Summary
- Kill Bill 2 delves into the Bride’s backstory, revealing her past training with martial artist Pai Mei, played by Gordon Liu.
- Gordon Liu previously played a different role in The White Lotus Clanwhere his character killed Pai Mei, adding depth to his involvement Kill Bill 2.
- The inclusion of Pai Mei in the Kill Bill the franchise pays homage to the martial arts genre and introduces a legendary character to mainstream cinema.
One of Kill Bill 2 top martial arts roles flourished more than two decades before the iconic film premiered. As the second installment in Quentin Tarantino’s franchise of the same name, Kill Bill: Volume 2 continued the Bride’s campaign of revenge against the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad and their leader, Bill. The 2004 sequel ultimately fulfilled the Bride’s desire for payback, but doubled as an exploration of her past as a skilled assassin.
As such, Kill Bill 2 revealed much about the deadly and mysterious Bachelor, revealing the Bride’s censored identity and giving insight into her past training. Long before the attempted assassination of the Bride at the hands of Bill and the Deadly Vipers, she trained with the legendary martial artist Pai Mei, gaining his respect enough to learn his best and deadliest techniques. Pai Mei, played by famous martial artist and actor Gordon Liu, is more legendary than Kill Bill 2 let’s move on as the character has been in the making for 24 years.
Gordon Liu played one of his oldest villains in Kill Bill Vol. 2
Pai Mei was the cause of a major turning point in the Kill Bill’s timeline and the bride’s journey for revenge. However, in an entirely alternate universe, the character Pi Mei is influential in someone else’s story. At the beginning of the 1980 kung fu movie The White Lotus Clan, Pai Mei was killed by the Shaolin experts Wu and Hung, drawing the wrath of Mei’s brother, the White Lotus. in The White Lotus Clanhowever, Liu was not cast as Pai Mei, but as one of the Shaolin who killed him.
Liu played the role of Hung and The White Lotus Clan his role became one of the best in his award-winning career. Tarantino’s Kill Bill a franchise that was inspired by the traditions of martial arts and martial arts films was lucky enough to land Liu for the sequel. of Liu Kill Bill casting was a particularly sentimental part of the film – not only because of his status, but also because it allowed him to play the same character he killed in The White Lotus Clan 24 years earlier.
Kill Bill 2’s villain honors another martial arts legend
In general, inspired by Tarantino’s martial arts Kill Bill the franchise honored the genre as much as it was influenced by it, and the films were full of genre-specific references, from big surprises like Liu’s cameo to smaller Kill Bill Easter eggs. Kill Bill’s Pai Mei’s role was multi-layered and honored the genre in several ways. for one, Kill Bill introduced the evil, white-haired martial artist who appeared in several vintage kung fu films into mainstream, blockbuster cinema.
Tarantino even took the character a step further by casting the legendary Liu in what would eventually become a lucrative milestone in the martial artist’s career. The role also served as a neat way to honor another martial arts legend: Lo Lie, the director of The White Lotus Clan, one of the most famous actors in kung fu films and one of the few actors who played the character of Pai Mei in other films. Pi Mei was a particularly cool character in the Kill Bill 2, but the depth of the role in the whole martial arts genre makes it even more interesting.