Very Good but Flawed towards the end

Rating: Null/10 (24 April 2004)

Possible Spoilers!
I came out of the cinema buzzing like a bumble bee after viewing Volume one. I hated the idea of waiting for Volume Two but if I could do it with Lord of the Rings then I was sure I could handle the wait for Volume Two.

The wait has finished and what do we now think of this second volume of Tarantino's Sword Wielding Revenge Fest. To be honest Volume 2 was not as good as it could have been. Volume One had this ecstasy of excitement that wouldn't stop where in Volume Two you get a more chilled out look back to why and how it all started. The opening scene at the massacre of Two Pines was stunning as far as filmmaking goes. It was nice and easy and then bang the massacre comes in such an artistic classy way I had change my pants. There the film starts straight off where the last one ends with the story of how Bud and The Bride meet and to me this was the best chapter in the whole film. Michael Madsen is a bad ass as Bud and the coolest character of both Volumes just like Mr Blonde in Reservoir Dogs but not as menacing and sick. Daryl Hannah as Elle Driver was the mega bitch and David Carradine as Bill is just amazing and is the real star instead of Uma Thurman who is still great, but the slick and cool presence of Bill and the sound of his voice was to good. It's just to hard to fault him and to hate him as a character. Throughout Volume 1 we are given this indication that Bill is someone who must not be trifled with and is the most vile and sadistic person one can meet, but we see a more nurture and respectful side to him than the one we are lead to believe is really him and it works well. Of course that is what Bill is but we don't see hardly any nasty side to him. At the end of the day Bill is someone who is trained in the art of Kung Fu with a crazy and vengeful side to his personality but is still a human being with feelings and emotions and that's what we see in Volume Two. Not so much in your face kind of thing but characters like Elle and Bud talk of how nobody but The Bride has made Bill feel the way he does so it was nice to see a more human side to him rather than the ruthless one.
The music was just as fantastic as the first one with For A Few Dollars More numbers popping up in occasions which was nice to see but not very fresh as far as originality goes. Set pieces were ok but nothing special, if anything the desert where Bud lives in his caravan is epic enough to last the entire film as it is so secluded and relaxed. It feels more like a western in those parts which in a lot of the film is desperately trying to be along with other films but that's what Kill Bill is all about and this is what Tarantino is here to celebrate. He has come up with his own story and to coincide with that he has borrowed, more than stolen some classic character plots and music but in a way which works really well and is brilliant in every way. What Lacked in Volume One is definitely made up in Volume Two when it came to the characters. Tarantino gave them the chance to shine and shine they did as the development of them all was absolutely brilliant.
As much as I wanted to love the whole film I just couldn't. The last 20 minutes were what spoiled it for me. Everything before then was outstanding apart from one or two scenes which could have been easily avoided like when she goes to Mexico to see Bill's guardian where The Bride turns up and asks if he can tell her where Bill is now living is a scene that died the moment it started. There are a couple of other ones but I don't want to give to much away but Tarantino obviously saw the chance to add more scenes to the film as it was spilt into two which doesn't seem such a good idea now.
Tarantino's Masterpiece is Reservoir Dogs and Pulp fiction but they didn't blow me away, they were very good to watch and entertaining so Tarantino's masterpiece is really Kill Bill Volume One which is excellent and Volume Two is very good but nothing to what we expected but overall as a whole a masterpiece. It has good closure but it didn't satisfy me the way I hoped it would. If somebody asked me what I thought of Kill Bill as one film then I would say `The first three quarters of the entire 4 hour plus epic was outstanding but it had a weak ending'. It was still a pleasure to watch Kill Bill and it's an experience I will never forget and I hope it will be remembered in decades to come which it will. It is definitely the best revenge movie I have ever seen and I will look back on the movie to get ideas but the ending could have been so much more and I think we were given a little less than we and the film deserved.