Kill Bill Vol. 2
Written and Directed by: Quentin Tarantino
Starring: Uma Thurman, David Carradine, Michael Madsen, Darryl Hannah

You really have to hand it to Quentin Tarantino. He knows how to hype up his movies, but more importantlyhe knows how to deliver on that hype. It takes a lot of guts (and a lot of industry pull) to decidethat after shooting your first movie in over five years that you are going to release it in two installmentsinstead of one, just because you feel like it. Whenthe first half of his epic kung fu/spaghetti western revenge flick hit theatres it soaked up a lot ofcash, and the majority of critics were bowing before Tarantino’s flashy style and clever assortment of obscuremovie references and tributes. But as impressive and fun as the first volume was, it was incomplete,and the true judgement of his vision was riding on his ability to follow through in volume 2.

What may surprise (and possibly disappoint) some people is that Kill Bill Volume 2 is in many waysa stark contrast to the first film. Uma Thurman is still “The Bride” and she’s still pissed, butthe scenery shifts from Japan back to the U.S. (Texas to be exact) and we have a new cast of targetsfor her to hunt down — characters that we saw in Volume One but didn’t have a chance toget well acquainted with. In particular there is Bill himself, played by David Carradine,Elle Driver (Darryl Hannah), and Bill’s brother Budd (Michael Madsen). Fans of Reservoir Dogs willabsolutely love this bad ass dirtbag character, as it is most definitely a role thatonly Madsen could pull off.The new locale also makes for a fairly clean cut in terms of genre: Volume 1 paid tribute tokung fu movies and TV serials, but Volume 2 reveals his equal affection for spaghetti westerns.Rest assured there are plenty of Ennio Morricone tunes on the soundtrack (and even some decentoriginal music by Robert Rodriguez believe it or not).

Whereas Volume 1 was 90% spectacle and 10% plot/characterdevelopment, the second installment heavily favours the plot and character development side of things.This is important, because it really fleshes out a lot of what was missing in the first movie, andit absolutely succeeds in completing the tale in a satisfying way. Unfortunately it also slows down thepacing for much of the movie as we are forced to sit through a lot of backstory and a lot of dialogue.Some of it is excellent and necessary, but some of it also seems purposely slow and long-winded.We’re not talking about typical QT dialogue either; with the exception of Bill’s slightlyout-of-character speech about Superman’s alter ego, Tarantino sticks very close to the genres he’s striving toemulate. There are a lot of mystical diatribes about martial arts philosophy and a lot of debates aboutthe morals and motives behind revenge.A lot of the dialogue, especially the material coming from David Carradine, could be seen as prettycheesy stuff but you have to realize that again Tarantino is paying tribute. He’s written itthis way on purpose, and it’s up to you whether or not you choose to be in on the joke.

There is humour in this movie although the majority of it is of the “wink and nod” variety. Thedepiction of Pai Mei as the old, wisened yet annoyingly cocky kung fu master is one of themovie’s highlights. For the most part it is the silly situations and the dry one-linersthat provide the rest of the laughs.

The performances in Kill Bill Vol. 2 are amazing, and they really carry the film since it is socharacter-focused.All of the actors take their roles very seriously, but never take it so far that it would be over the top.Tarantino proves that he has a nose for casting, especially when it comesto actors and actresses that everyone else has forgotten about. Uma Thurman kicks ass onceagain with a range of raw emotion that’s all across the board. Tarantino’s direction style isstill very visual but not as kinetic this time around. There are a lot of slow, steady close-upsof the characters, to the point where you could potentially count every single wrinkle onDavid Carradine’s face.

This might make Vol. 2 sound boring in comparison to Vol. 1 though, and I don’t think that’snecessarily true. There are still some killer action sequences, and Tarantino throws some great plot twists in that show his writing to be anything but predictable.

The question most people are probably wonderingis whether Kill Bill Volume 2 is better or worse than Volume 1. The thing is,that’s a tough question because I like each of them for different reasons. If you enjoyed the first then I think you owe it to yourself to see the conclusion, although you certainly shouldn’t go in expecting a repeat of Vol. 1.

While the separation of the two volumes did help distinguish them in terms of style and genre,I think that ultimately one great film was weakened by cutting it in half and allowingeach section to grow bloated. It was never a question of whether or not Tarantino *could* fill uptwo movies with worthwhile material… it was a question of whether or not he *should*.Some careful editing and tweaking probably would have made this a true masterpiece,although it’s certainly an impressive achievement either way. For the time being, I will awaitTarantino’s special edition Kill Bill DVD set and hope for some sort of new combined cut.But I can’t deny the fact that whether you look at the movies individually or as a whole,Kill Bill makes for some of the most fun I’ve had at a movie theatrein a long time. — Sean