Master film-making!

Rating: Null/10 (23 April 2004)

Kill Bill: Vol 2 is a whole new ball-game. Whether you assess the film by virtue of its incisive dialog, its brilliant direction, acting par excellance or simply its `appeal,' there is but one factor - Tarantino. QT is to cinematic originality what Kubrick brought to deep space, and beyond the infinite!
A lifetime of forgettable movies excepting BOUND FOR GLORY and arguably Scorcese's BOXCAR BERTHA, is erased for Carradine overnight thanks to Tarantino. As Bill, Carradine has handed in his greatest performance to date.that is to say, QT drew it out of him. The `Old Grasshopper' conveys charm, menace.all the wordly acoutrements his profession would have brought to him. Playing the reed flute that he carved himself from a bamboo plantaton he actually set-up while still making Kung-Fu episodes, Carradine's first appearance outside the small church in El Paso set the scene for the entire movie. He commands our attention from that moment on. His last line, `How do I look?' was delivered with such believable sincerity and emotive sadness, it closed a chapter in Beatrix's and the viewer's recent experiences with remarkably good taste. The smallest part in this movie, from Samuel Jackson's cameo thru Bo Svenson's preacher to Michael Parks' gifted little turn as the crafty old Esteban is just flawless acting of the highest calibre.
QT 'regular' Madsen also scores with arguably his best portrayal in years as the alkified retired gang-member Budd (aka Sidewinder). He really looked the sad dead-beat that he had become.
The flashback sequences are never overlong, out of place or anything but chronologically correct. Everything from Volume 1 is explained. Beatrix's Kung-Fu training sequences with Master Pai Mai might be considered by many, the high point of the film. Certainly Tarantino's love of old Samurai flicks is evidenced throughout, especially in the brief but beautiful silhouette-shots of Master and pupil training. Nice touch too towards the end (I don't wish to give anything away here) where `X' and `Y' are watching SHOGUN ASSASSIN.
The final twenty minutes of the movie fully justify the term `awesome.' At the point Beatrix finally confronts Bill, no-one in the audience would be expecting to see what they do. All I will say is that the `little girl' involved is the most appealing and touchingly innocent little thing I have ever seen in a film. It was a master-stroke of casting, scripting and cinematography. A lot more I would like to say but cannot, without ruining the film for any future viewers.
In my opinion, no film ever made betters this!