Kill Bill

This analysis of 'Kill Bill: Vol. 2' (2004) will consider how the screenplay's five plot points create the story's deep structure. These discrete story points include the 'Inciting Incident' in Act 1, 'Turning Points 1 and 2' in Act 2, and the 'Crisis Decision' and 'Climax' in Act 3. Spoiler alert: this structural analysis will reveal crucial plot moments; you may prefer to read this after viewing the film.

This movie's back story is, of course, 'Kill Bill Vol .1', which saw Beatrix Kiddo (Uma Thurman) go on a full-bore royal rampage of revenge. But she has yet to kill old Bill.

Any Hollywood movie's Inciting Incident', which occurs usually in the first 1/2 hour, challenges the hero to respond to a new development or opportunity. To achieve that response, the hero must internally expand, irrevocably changing his life. The hero is then thrown into a series of escalating accommodations on his journey to understand and solve the Inciting Incident's original problem. This movie's Inciting Incident sees Bill show up unexpectedly on the happy occasion of Kiddo's wedding rehearsal. He is welcomed by the groom, and is to be the sole guest from the bride's family present at the ceremony.

A few moments after his arrival, Budd (Michael Madsen), Elle (Darryl Hannah) and two other assassins arrive. What followed has since become notorious as the massacre at the El Paso Wedding Chapel.

Kiddo escapes from the early grave Budd had cheerfully consigned her to. She then makes her way back to Budd's trailer. Inside Elle has unleashed the Great Mamba, one of Africa's three most lethal predators, on poor unsuspecting Budd.

Turning Point 1. When Elle tries to leave, Kiddo comes roaring in. Elle reveals that she killed Kiddo's revered master, using a cowardly poison, and in the fight that follows, Kiddo impales and swipes out Elle's one remaining eye with her index and middle finger, blinding her. Kiddo leaves Elle howling in the trailer, trapped there to receive the attentions of the Great Mamba.

A movie's Midpoint usually provides the story with a coherence and symmetry that the audience feels unconsciously, and