good becuase of Vol. 1

Rating: Null/10 (16 April 2004)

First, I must say that When Quentin Tarantino edits together the complete film, he will have a masterpiece. However, in Kill Bill's current form, Vol. 1 feels more complete and is more entertaining then vol. 2 (which is ironic considering that Vol. 2 is really the conclusion to vol. 1). What also doesnt help Vol. 2 is the drastic change of pace. When the critics write that there is less action and more talking they "ain't kidden". A good portion of the movie is pretty much all set up to what already has been set up in Vol. 1 which makes it somewhat repetative. Even though it tevhincally goes into greater detail of what happened at the wedding chapel, you dont really feel it since when the killing begins you dont see any of it and it cuts away to a new chapter (which is why Vol. 1 is almost a prerequisite for Vol. 2 since it goes into greater detail of what exactly was done to the bride by the deadly vipers). We also get to know Budd a little bit more, again all through talking and his life seems rather depressing and its hard to beleive that he was once a deadly assassin.
Although, the training scene with Pei Mei is entertaining and finally brings martial arts back into the film, the real action doesnt start until Elle arrives. The bout between her and the Bride (SPOILER now Beatrix Kiddo) reminds us of why we wanted to see Kill Bill in the first place, the kick-ass fighting. That being said, the fight scene was a bit overhyped and really is the only prolonged action scene in the movie (although I feel that the fight was at most only 4 minutes long but thats being generous and including the liuttle diologue they have that brings the fight to dead halt). However, this fight has one of the best conclusions a fight scene will ever have. Considering that the Elle vs The Bride fight is the onyl real action scene, the movie relies heavily on its main villian, Bill, and he does not dissappoint. David Carradine played the role perfectly. Bill was always calm, never lost his cool, even when his emotions ran high. When the Bride finally came face to face with him, is when more layers of their history are revealed which does kinda turn the tables around and make you question the Brides actions. Other than the Elle fight scene, my favorite scene in the movie has to be with Pei Mei. Mainly becuase where Vol. 1 was pretty much all Japanese based (even Yuen Woo Ping did chorepgraph the Blue lleaves battle), this scene is all chinese in insperation. The fighting that takes place is very reminiscent of the old chinese wuxia movies of the 70s. UNfortunately the scene does not really go too much in depth and it appears that the only thing The Bride actually learned and utilized was the 3 inch punch (well she did utiloize another move thats wil ruin the movie if I tell you what it is). It would have been nice to see the crane or eagle style present in the Elle Driver fight but, even though both were taught by Pei Mei, we dont see any of it. I hope that it was originally alonger scene and he cut it dow fro some reason onyl he would understand. Again, what makes Vol. 2 good is Vol. 1. As a whole movie it would have been magnificabt becuase the first half would be all about kicking ass and the second half would be taking a break and thinking about why she is kicking ass. With the split, Vol. 2 starts off with us taking a break from the action but, unless you have seen Vol. 1 you dont know what we are taking a break from and if you have seen it, you took a big enough break to want more kicking ass whcih you dont get for what seems to be an enternity.