Gargantuan.

Rating: Null/10 (26 August 2004)

In terms of conflicting emotions regarding the audiences reactions to certain characters, Tarantino has once and for all given us the mess with our minds that we deserve. 'Insomnia' had a cop whom killed his partner and covered it up, but we know that through it all, I couldn't have gone any other way. Kill Bill Vol 1 had a back story to cold killer O-Ren Ishii (Lucy Liu) told in Anime, one of the most expressive mediums and actually gave the character a sympathy. Vernita Green's (Vivica A Fox) daughter (who will undoubtedly come back later) watches as the bride kills her mother. In Volume 2, the sympathy and emotion for the bad characters are heightened and the one man whom you thought you would hate the most of the five on the dead list becomes one of the most sympathetic, charming characters of the film, despite what he did at the El Paso chapel not four years ago.
David Carradine plays Bill with menace and charm, a combination that doesn't always work with todays ineffective and forgettable villains. Having said that, the title's payoff did come out a little flat and empty. Maybe Tarantino was trying to relate how revenge is not always sweet and convey the emptiness The Bride must have felt subsequently. If that's the case, he succeeded. If his goal was simply "to kick ass", it was flat. Budd, Bill's brother, is just trying to make buck or two, but, as he so rightly states, they all deserve to die. Elle driver is the only one who is all bad. A bitch to the end. We never thought the mermaid from splash was capable of it. Hats off to Daryl Hannah.
One of the greatest things about volume 2 is a welcome back for the Tarantino dialogue and some of the most luscious cinematography ever seen on film. He states himself that its a departure, he admits to homage, never to plagiarism. Those of you with an open mind will agree with him. How many times has a film style or genre, even story, been recycled and recycled and no-one bats an eyelid. Gus Van Sant remade Psycho shot for shot from the same script and no one said a word, but you put down Tarantino for imaginative and frankly incredible use of his movie influences? I've had my rant, and Tarantino is in no way overrated. These two films are one big masterpiece and should be treated as such and, if possible, should be taken together.