[Vol 2] Your opinion on Vol. 2 + The Superman monologue

Hey everyone.



Well…here in Europe I managed to get tickets to a pre-screening on the 16th, which was obviously amazing.



First off: To the people that have seen it, what did you think?

I have to say that I have sort of mixed feelings. I was expecting to leave the theater being absolutely amazed, which I sadly wasn’t. Am I the only one that thinks the movie gradually began to take itself too seriously at times? In particular in the last chapter. Just want to know what other ppl thought…It’s definately different to Vol. 1. Nevertheless, a solid conclusion to a kick ass movie.



Secondly, does anyone have the patience to explain the long monologue where Bill refers to several super heroes including Superman? Everything went kinda quick, so I didn’t quite grasp it. Seemed very significant to me…



-Backdoor Bandit

[quote]


Secondly, does anyone have the patience to explain the long monologue where Bill refers to several super heroes including Superman? Everything went kinda quick, so I didn’t quite grasp it. Seemed very significant to me.[/quote]

The Superman monologue was Bills way of explaining to the Bride the similarities between her alter ego as Arlene (the record store worker-fake happy wife persona which would be The Bride’s own Clark Kent) and as Beatrix Kiddo aka Black Mamba (the master assassin who was the best killer in the world, this would be similar to Superman’s real persona Kal El).



Superman was not born Clark Kent, just like Beatrix Kiddo was not born as Arlene Plympton. She is and will always really be a natural born killer, just as Superman will and always will really be a superbeing from another planet.



Hope that clears it up. Awesome monologue/idea by QT!! :slight_smile:

Except for the Pai Mei scenes the monologue was easily my favorite moment of the two films.

The dialogue is so sharp, and so fitting to the moment, I still can’t get over it.

To put it simply. Bill is using the example of Superman in comparision with Uma Thurmans character. He points out that Superman is the only superhero born a superhero. Superman is Superman, while Spiderman is really Peter Parker and Batman is really Bruce Wayne, just in costume. Clark Kent is Superman’s alter-ego, not the other way around as with Spiderman and Batman. The key line is (sorry if I don’t get it 100% correct) “Clark Kent is Superman’s critique on the world,” meaning Superman sees the human race as weak and cowardly, which is why Clark Kent comes off that way. Bill feels the same way about Beatrice when she was getting married to Chris Nelson’s character in the beginning of the movie. She would always be a killer, and the person getting married wasn’t the real her, but a fallacious alter-ego. I’m neither a fan of Superman nor comic book’s in general (not a big one anyway) but the dialogue is so universal it really doesn’t matter. One of the best monologues in recent memory.

[quote]






Superman was not born Clark Kent, just like Beatrix Kiddo was not born as Arlene Plympton. She is and will always really be a natural born killer, just as Superman will and always will really be a superbeing from another planet.



Hope that clears it up.  Awesome monologue/idea by QT!! :slight_smile:
[/quote]

I’m pretty sure that Son no.1 in Vol. 1 refers to her as Arlene Machiavelli, not Plympton. How come this inconsistency? ???

Yes, the monologue was all about how Superman views humans as weak and insecure, which is exactly what Beatrix would be if she had an alter ego of Arlene. It is an insult to who she was and what she was supposed to be… as Bill saw it.



Vol. 2 was simply fucking awesome. I think it’s better than Vol. 1, and I came away not with a feeling of exhileration (like the first one), but with a sense of connection with the characters. Uma is incredible, as is David Carradine. Michael Madson is even better than I thought he would be, and the fight between Elle and Beatrix was even meaner than I thought it would be.



Thumbs way up.

Her name is not Plympton because she was not married yet. It was going to BECOME Plympton.

[quote]Her name is not Plympton because she was not married yet.  It was going to BECOME Plympton.[/quote]

Ah, I understand. I guess I should not open my mouth until I actually see the movie. :slight_smile:

[quote]
Vol. 2 was simply fucking awesome.  I think it’s better than Vol. 1, and I came away not with a feeling of exhileration (like the first one), but with a sense of connection with the characters.  Uma is incredible, as is David Carradine.  Michael Madson is even better than I thought he would be, and the fight between Elle and Beatrix was even meaner than I thought it would be.



Thumbs way up.[/quote]


Thats exactly what it should be seen as. Kill Bill started as just a Grindhouse film and with Volume 2 really became something more than that. It was necessary to get to know more about the characters than just watching them fight and thats it. There was enough interaction between them to answer the questions left over from Volume 1, and the last chapter with Bill totally evens the film out in my opinion and it closes the story wonderfully with an uplifting vibe. And theres nothing wrong with that.

It changed from just a Revenge film into a tragic love story. Therein lies QT's genius as a storyteller and cinematic manipulator.

the superman speech was pretty good, but i was still at a lack of words over the fact kiddo had just gotten shot by a truth serum dart. im still saying “what the fuck!?!?!” over that one.

I personally thought the Superman speech was a little strained and spread thin at points. It just took a really long time to get to the point, I guess, and the point or punchline really didn’t click given all the time it took to get to it.



Still, I think Carradine played it out as smoothly as possible. An amazing performance, and definitely one to be remembered.

yeah the superman speech wasnt as great as everyone is saying. to be honest, i really wasnt that impressed with a lot of the dialouge in the movie. now im not saying it was bad just not up to par with some of QT’s other movies

I absolutely, positively love Bill’s Superman monologue. Just like one person said before, it comes right after Pai Mei as the coolest thing in the movie.



JW

I loved the superman monologue…reminded me of true romance for obvious reasons…



I also loved micheal madsens performance!



I was LMAO when he said he pawned the hanzo sword for 250 bucks hahahahhahaha!!!



also shooting the bride was very cool…and the scene at the stripclub…hahhaaha very cool!



I would have loved him in a swordfight though…

[quote]
I was LMAO when he said he pawned the hanzo sword for 250 bucks hahahahhahaha!!!
[/quote]

Yeah that was so funny ;D.

Bill: That sword was priceless

Budd: Well, not in El Paso I only got 250 bucks for it ;D

the way he delivers the line “that sword was priceless” was great.



but i felt budd needed to be more developed. i mean i just have so many questions about him

That movie was cool! I kinda liked the Supes speech a bit long but it was cool.Budd man we hardly knew ya.

Not at all disapointed. I am a true Tarantino fan and the reason I watch his movies is the writing. His writing rings true throughout all of his movies. When people say they were disapointed by Jackie Brown, I immediatly lable them- Not true fans- this is because for one reason- the writing. When Max Cherry says something quirky or funny I laugh not because of the line but because you get the feeling that that is something Max Cherry would say. I think that is how good Tarantino’s writing is and Kill Bill Vol. 2 is another great example of this. I feel his writing has never been stronger and when you sit down (If your a true Tarantino fan) you will be transfixed by his writing and the actors that deliver the lines. So fuck you (backdoor-bandit) for being mixed-You aren’t a true fan of his films.

Who the fuck made you the Joseph McCarthy of Tarantino.info? Shut the fuck up about who YOU THINK the real Tarantino fans are. If someone has a legitimate question or concern about the movie, he or she has every right to voice it and not be cut down for doing so.

gonna see the movie when it comes out proper in uk this week but got to see it on mates computer the other day which im glad i did since it got rid of the preconceptions i had (yet again) which means ill get to proper enjoy the movie in the cinema!



anyway, i agreed with that negative review of kb 2 that said the superman monologue was performed like tarantino would do - it was really weird! like carradine is dead cool but then hes making the exact hand gestures that tarantino prob did when he explained the monologue to him. if i had never seen quentin on tv before maybe id think it was cool but watching carradine do it on screen in qts style meant i didnt think it was as cool as it couldve been.



i instantly liked the movie as a whole though and was surprised how short it was, it just seemed to fly by. i thought it would be slow paced but it seemed right - it really wouldve fitted well as one movie with kb 1 (which i thought dragged at certain points). i really dont see why they cut the michael jai white scene though coz they really needed one more fight, at least just to show what bill can do, it wouldve been awesome. u know if beatty had gotten the part they wouldve had to keep it in coz he wouldve broken his back doin training for months for it!



i guess people noted the superman monologue in the press coz that was the only one that seemed to be like his old pop culture reference type stuff he’d do, the rest of the script was more trad in that it moved the story along i think, though thats not a bad thing since pop culture stuff wouldnt suit this movie at all.



the elle driver fight was easily the best action sequence of both movies, the eyeball pulling really meant something here coz of the pei mei thing and so was totally effective and awesome! and the pei mei scene meant we really got to see uma’s skill which was fantastic, so while there werent enough action scenes i think the ones there were were prob better than the first movie.



cool fucking movie, i know ill like it better next time i see it though

I was reading other peoples posts in another board, and a guy said he thought the superman monologue was dodgy because superman isn’t different to Spiderman or Batman because he was also given his superpowers. He wasn’t born as Superman, it was only because he landed in Earth that gave him the powers otherwise he would just be normal. So really he is just the same as the other superheroes and so his alterego is actually superman instead of Clark Kent as Bill suggested. (But then he went on to say that someone at his work said that monologue just proved that Bill was stark-raving mad)



What do all think about this??