As mentioned in the previous post, we watched KB,Vol.I on the plane ride back and it as I watched, I couldn’t help but think of the critique of the movie I’d heard (attributed I believe to one of my Clarion buds): “I felt like I’ve seen this movie before.”

KB is clearly a break from most modern movies with one notable exception: any film made by Quentin Tarantino. So while the ultraviolence, quirky characters, and snappy dialogue by all accounts should be fresh and original, they just seem like another rehashed Tarantino bit. Tarantino trashed movie conventions with “Reservoir Dogs” and “Pulp Fiction” with his knack for everyday dialogue and his characters’ idiosyncratic behaviors but with KB I was expecting these things and Tarantino delivered. So while KB is quite different than the majority of mainstream movies out there, it’s not so different than say “Pulp Fiction.” Can you knock a guy for using a tried and true formula? I guess…not? The only thing that I really felt was original was the break to anime to tell the story of Lucy Liu’s character.

The big question mark hanging over the film is whether it needed to be two volumes and over four hours total. Many of the scenes–most notably the anime flashback, the “I’m Buck” scene, and the travel to Okinawa–could have been cut back dramatically. Yes, this might diminish the “revenge” motif Tarantino wanted but that’s part of the problem–I can’t help think that Tarantino so badly wanted this to be a two volume epic, he made it so whether the story took him there or not.

As for the critics who complained about the over the top violence and spurting blood, they clearly don’t understand that Tarantino is imitating the Japanese revenge flick and that’s part and parcel of the genre. This was my major complaints with the idiots who said “The Passion of the Christ” was too violent; when goriness is deliberately used it needs to be considered in the context of the work itself. Tarantino has never casually used violence, or if he has it’s to say something about how we as a culture view violence. For my money, movies like the “Shaft” remake with Samuel L. Jackson are ten times more culpable for needlessly glorifying senseless violence.

In the end, I’m still eager to see KB, Vol. II. I just hope it pushes the envelope a little more. And while I’m no means a photography expert, tinkering around with my camera and trying to become a better photographer has made me appreciate how directors frame shots in movies and how they use contrasts and textures to help create a visual story. KB was full of nifty things (especially the dual in the snowy garden) and you could tell that Tarantino was obsessed with getting it perfect. And he just about did.

I was going to make a point about how “The Matrix” sequels suffered from a similar problem, i.e. it’s the same thing only more of it, but then I realized that does KB a disservice. “Matrix Reloaded” has to be one of the all-time shittiest movies I’ve ever seen, mostly because of the drivel about fate and free will they clumsily try to integrate into the plot and fail miserably. I found “Reloaded” insulting in so many ways I will refrain from listing them. At least at this time.