Excuse me while I pour one out for the very hope of Kill Bill 3 ever happening. Quentin Tarantino has often teased the idea of a sequel to his badass two-parter, which saw Uma Thurman slaughter her way through a bloody quest for vengeance. But he’s never come close to confirming it would happen, and when his tenth and final film was announced to be The Movie Critic, fans were left to assume it meant the door was shut.
Well, consider that door slammed.
In regards to the possibility of Kill Bill 3, Tarantino recently told DeMorgen…
“I don’t see that happening. My last film is about a film critic, a male critic. And he plays in the ‘70s.”
To be fair, it was Tarantino who has teased things like bringing back the girl who played Vernita Green’s daughter, now an adult, and casting her to get revenge on The Bride. Even more recently he talked about casting Uma Thurman’s real-life daughter, Maya Hawke. Fans, and I include myself in this group, have held onto all of Tarantino’s comments tightly in hopes that he might see them through. Sadly, it ain’t to be unless he decides to do a Kill Bill tv series? That could work, right?
Moran has come up with a plan to make sure his wife Anna (Kate Bosworth) and son are taken care of once he passes. The plan certainly crosses some ethical and procedural lines…to say the least. One of Moran and Thorton’s confidential informants is a junkie who is at the end of his rope. Moran wants to have the informant kill him so he dies in duty and his family receives the death benefits. Thorton objects and worries about internal affairs snooping around. Lt. Hickey (Mel Gibson) has a new IA agent, Learner (Russell Richardson), who is itching to make a name for himself. The last thing Moran and Thorton need is Learner on their tail.
Michael Oblowitz directed the film and was part of the three-person writing committee. Alongside Oblowitz was Brooke Nasser and Michael Kaycheck, who appeared in the film. Oblowitz has a history of writing the movies he directs, and Confidential Informant is no exception. However, this is the feature length debut for Nasser and Kaycheck. It seemed that Oblowitz and co. wanted to tell a story of camaraderie that resonated and left a lasting mark. Instead, the story becomes muddled and full of cliches seen time and time again.
One of the clear focuses of the creative team was to hammer home the noir style throughout the film. The camera angels are there, strange and captivating. We have clashes of muted sets with one bright article of clothing to focus on, a la Sin City. Can’t forget about the dark and brooding narration – with different characters taking a stab at it. They had a noir checklist and went down one by one.
While so much focus went to the stylistic elements, the rest of the film rings hollow. The script and performances leave a lot to be desired. Some characters are incredibly difficult to even understand – both their motivations and their dialogue. There are a handful of head scratching moments. Maybe most egregious of all, Confidential Informant features some of the worst aim seen outside of a storm trooper’s outfit. The film is entirely character driven, but the character development isn’t there to really make the audience connect. The star of the show may possibly be the absurdly large fan on Hickey’s desk. Confidential Informant simply doesn’t do enough to distinguish itself or make it worth a watch.
