Disconnect from part 1 kills ‘Bill, Vol. 2’

In theaters

KILL BILL, VOL. 2, written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, 136 minutes, rated R.

Last year, in his bloody revenge fantasy, “Kill Bill, Vol. 1,” Quentin Tarantino put the shock back into the moviegoing experience without hesitation, reservation or fear.

The story, which he based on his own script, concludes in “Kill Bill, Vol. 2,” a less violent, less successful, more introspective movie that would have balanced the first film’s kinetic energy and gore had it been shown as Tarantino originally intended: as an uninterrupted whole.

Given the film’s lengthy running time and Tarantino’s unwillingness to do any further editing, Miramax split the movie in two, a decision that undoubtedly will score the studio larger profits, but which, it turns out, doesn’t do the movie justice as it’s not the best way to view it.

Armed with his encyclopedic knowledge of pop culture, the formidable Robert Richardson as his cinematographer, Yuen Wo-Ping and Sonny Chiba as his martial arts choreographers, and Uma Thurman as his leading lady, Tarantino begins “Vol. 2” just as he began “Vol. 1” – with an unflinching, black-and-white close-up of Thurman’s smashed-in face.

Just as in the first film, “Vol. 2” fades in and out of a series of flashbacks and flashforwards, with Thurman’s Bride seeking vengeance for the massacre that took place on her wedding day. There, where everyone including her was gunned down, she was left for dead by her former lover, Bill (David Carradine), and his Deadly Viper Assassination Squad.

Four years later, fresh from a coma, the Bride cometh, an avenging angel who savagely knocked off three members of the squad in “Vol. 1” before the movie ended.

Now, in “Vol. 2,” she’s out to kill the remaining three – beer-bloated Sidewinder (Michael Madsen), who literally buries her alive in the film’s best scene; California Mountain Snake (Daryl Hannah), a blond babe with one eye whose strength is the sword; and, of course, Bill, who’s the father of the Bride’s child.

What ensues is at its best while in the throes of action. The film features two superb, clever fight sequences that are jaw-dropping in their detail and the sublime rush they offer. The cast also is appealing, particularly Hannah, who makes a great, saucy villain, and Carradine and Thurman, whose relationship gives the movie depth. All resurrect their careers in a film that makes us realize how necessary it is to have them on the scene.

As with all of Tarantino’s movies, there are images in “Vol. 2” that are unshakable – the startling scene in which California Mountain Snake meets her ugly undoing; the scene in which Thurman, buried alive, fights to free herself; the long pan away from a church before evil overcomes it. The movie is framed in tight, intimate close-ups that recall a brash mix of noir, Hitchcock and the silent era, and as such, it’s beautiful to look at.

Still, the way it’s shown here, disconnected from “Vol. 1,” “Vol. 2” nevertheless suffers. This is, after all, the downside of the story, and too often, it feels restricted, as if Tarantino let the air out of his chic, retro rooms. Heavy on self-conscious chatter, it lacks the first film’s consistent leaps of faith into others genres – grindhouse chief among them – where style and homage not only ruled over substance, but won.

Grade: B

On video and DVD

THE HAUNTED MANSION, directed by Rob Minkoff, written by David Berenbaum, 99 minutes, rated PG.

The first thing that floats upon the screen in Walt Disney’s “The Haunted Mansion” are three words: “Welcome foolish mortals.” The first thing I wrote in my notes was, “I wonder if they’ll regret that?”

The movie certainly looks great.

Rick Baker’s special effects have a nice decay about them, John Myhre’s production design imagines the sort of dark, haunted sets in which any graveyard corpse would happily look undead, and the house itself seems like the sort of place Norma Desmond could unwind in the afterlife.

Too bad about the story.

The film stars Eddie Murphy as Jim Evers, a real estate agent unable to strike a balance between work and family. Guilted by wife Sara into taking a long family weekend away from home with their children Megan (Aree Davis) and Michael (Marc John Defferies), the Evers nevertheless find themselves taking a detour to meet a client at the sprawling Gracey Manor.

There, Edward Gracey (Nathaniel Parker) and his creepy servant, Ramsley (Terence Stamp), reside with a couple of ghosts (Dina Waters, Wallace Shawn), more than a few secrets, the wicked face of Jennifer Tilly glowing green in a crystal ball, and a nasty hidden agenda that will challenge them all.

This sounds more interesting than it is. With Murphy and company only ever going through the motions and director Rob Minkoff eking out minor laughs,

“The Haunted Mansion,” released last Thanksgiving, proves more stuffing than gravy. It’s never as foolish as the mortals who made it-and it’s only average at best.

Grade: C

Christopher Smith is the Bangor Daily News film critic. His reviews appear Mondays and Fridays in Style, 5:30 p.m. Thursdays on WLBZ 2 and WCSH 6, and are archived at RottenTomatoes.com. He can be reached at BDNFilm1@aol.com.