[merylsilverburg]

Well, I saw Vol. 2 on Monday and I have to say that I felt it was a good ending and overall a good film, but there were some things that could've been better.

PROS:
- Elle and "Bride" fight was definitely the best fight out of both films. The first film with O-Ren Ishii/Lucy Lui was not that good, IMO. Plus, the massive battle at the restaurant in the first film was a bit too long and uneccessary as well. So, I really like this fight in the second film. And Elle was excellent...such a badass and a total bitch...you gotta love her.

- The ending was good. Kinda sad, sweet, ended well...

CONS:
-...but was done poorly, IMO. Here's why I didn't like it that much: Throughout both films, the whole thing was nearly emphasized on the Hattori Hanzo sword, which are supposed to be the best swords ever made. However, in the end

Spoiler: show

Beatrice basically uses the Five-Point Punch-thing to kill Bill. The swords were hardly used at all! Why do the whole build-up of such a magnificent sword if Beatrice never even uses it to actually kill Bill? I mean, Hanzo vowed never to make another sword ever again but he makes one for the Bride so she can have her revenge. But, it wasn't used at all...it was as if the sword is just so great to be a prized possession but not really for anything physical.

- Okay, that whole Pai-Mei thing was overdone. I mean...what the hell was that? What's with the whole "zoom in, zoom out, zoom in, zoom out" on the face at every moment? In the actual Hong Kong martial arts films, they don't even do it that much! The whole "zooming in" thing is only used for dramatic moments or when something great or hidden meaning has been achieved. But in this film, it was at everything that the Bride did or everything he said! And the flipping the beard thing....a bit much. Otherwise, this part was okay...with the Bride training and all that. And the eating part was very, very good (

Spoiler: show

when Thurman was trying to eat with the chopsticks and couldn't and Pai Mei told her to eat like a human if she's a human

).

Anyway, that's about it for my thoughts. The second film was much better regarding story...the first was a bit better in action (however...asking Lucy Liu to play the Japanese role when she isn't even Japanese was a total turnoff. Plus, she really can't act, IMO. So, the fight/conversation between her and Thurman was not as honorable as it should've been).

What did you guys think of the second film?

BTW, for those who are interested, I found out that the Japanese version of "Kill Bill Vol. 1" is a bit longer and in full color! Apparently, some fights in the US version had to be in black and white, otherwise the rating would've been an NC-17(?) rating instead of rated R.