April 18, 2004 -- “Kill Bill Volume 2” is where director Quentin Tarnatino put all the less-than-sparkling dialogue that was missing from Volume One. And Volume One is where he put most of the action and fun. Unfortunately, Volumes One and Two should have stayed as it was originally conceived and written: one movie. As a result of this split, which cleverly doubled the movie's profits, there was one good movie, Volume One, and one slightly-better-than-mediocre-movie, Volume Two. If you put the two together, and edited it down to about two hours, you might have a superior movie. That might be a movie I might consider watching more than once. While the first movie was fun in a perverted, frenetic kind of way, the second volume is bloated, slow-moving, pretentious, and self-indulgent. It does have enough and action and humor in it to make it worth a look on video or in a discount theater.

Volume 2 picks up where the first film left off, with The Bride (AKA Black Mamba, played by Uma Thurman) continuing her quest for vengeance against the people who messed up her wedding rehearsal, shot her in the head, killed her groom and everybody else who happened to be there. The people left on her hit list are Bill (David Carradine), Elle Driver (Daryl Hannah) and Budd (Michael Madsen). The three comprise the remaining members of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad that The Bride hasn't already killed in the first film.

The plot unfolds pretty much as expected until the end, which is built up to be something pretty spectacular. Instead, it is anti-climactic. The best scenes in the film are the martial arts training scenes with martial arts master Pai Mei (played by veteran martial arts actor Gordon Liu) done up with the traditional white beard and bushy eyebrows. This stylized type of “white eyebrow monk” has been seen in a lot of Hong Kong martial arts films. The training scenes are a part of the story told in flashback. There is also an extensive flashback about the deadly wedding rehearsal. While the first film had more of a Japanese influence, the second film has more of a Chinese martial arts influence. Another good scene is the fight between The Bride and Elle Driver, which takes place inside a mobile home. The two crash through walls and fight with fists and feet. Both women have swords, but can't use them because of the narrow spaces inside the mobile home.

The film has enough action, enough comedy and enough interesting plot developments to recommend it, but just barely. It moved so slow at times, I kept checking my watch to see when it would be over. At times, it appeared by watch had stopped. If the dialogue had at least been interesting instead of juvenile, the time might have gone by a little faster. It would also help if the dialogue wasn't written so self-consciously, or if it didn't reference so many other films and television shows. David Carradine plays a flute in one scene very similar to one he played in the old “Kung Fu” TV show he starred in. In the film's opening scene, The Bride talks about her quest for vengeance as being like a movie. I knew it was a film, already, I didn't need to be reminded of the fact every two minutes. While the conceit of this film is bad enough, it will be that much worse if that same conceit wins critical praise. I saw this film in a theater that was fairly full, and I think I was the only viewer over the age of 30. They were laughing in exactly the right places, the killings, mutilations, torture, etc.

The film is a monument to cynicism and misogyny. It advances the belief that human beings are motivated primarily by hatred, greed, envy, lust, jealousy, selfishness and the desire for power. The hero, The Bride, is as hateful as anyone else in the movie, but the others are even worse than she is. Every person she kills deserves to die. She is an anti-hero in the modern mold. The movie should appeal strongly to cynics, who, I suspect, will comprise the bulk of those touting Tarantino's genius. Cynicism isn't so bad if you keep it to yourself, but to use one's art to infect others with cynicism is both unpardonable and tiresome. My own rating of this film is a C+. Maybe one of these days there will be a single film version of Kill Bill. I'd rather see that than Kill Bill Volume 3, which Tarantino is threatening to spawn.

Click here for links to places to buy or rent this movie in video and/or DVD format, or to buy the soundtrack, posters, books, even used videos, games, electronics and lots of other stuff. I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

Copyright © 2004 Robert Roten. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

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