Well worth the wait

Rating: 10/10 (5 May 2004)

Kill Bill Volume 1 was my favorite 2003 film. It was one of the rare times i was laughing in a cinema not because the movie was funny (intentionally or unintentionally) but because i was enjoying mt self. It was the most fun time i' ve had in a cinema for a long-long time! After a six month wait period, the film's conclusion finally arrived. Did it leave up to my expectations? Yes it did, although in a totally different way.
Let's get on thing straight right from the start: Kill Bill Vol. 2 is entirely different to Vol. 1. It's almost like watching a completely different film.
First of all the action takes several steps back and character development steps forth. The Bride (whose real name is revealed but i won't spoil it for you) is almost an entirely different person this time around. She no longer is an unlikable super-bitch. She shows an incredible range of emotions from fear to sympathy and love and this time we really do CARE for her and her cause. Bill also gets some serious development. We learn about his relationship with the Bride and why he decided to kill her, and in the end we do feel some sympathy for him too. There also is a lot of Tarantino-esque dialog in this installment. Bill's take on Superman was one of the smartest things i've heard in a movie this year!
The action and humor although toned down, still play an important part in the movie. Volume 2 is more brutal than Volume 1, and even though it doesn't contain any scenes like the Crazy 88 massacre (who as we find out weren't really 88 LOL) it's very violent and graphic (no blood (gaizers this time). The duel with Elle is truly a thing to behold! But by far the best part of the movie is the chapter entitled "The Cruel Tutelage Of Pei Mei" where we witness the Bride's training by a realy old Kung-Fu master. Their duels and Pei Mei's lines are the movie's highlights!
Direction wise Tarantino works his magic once again. This time the film is more Spagheti-Western oriented and it almost entirelly takes place in a desert (in El Passo none the less...) and the soundtrack is full of songs by Robert Rodriguez and Ennio Moriconne. The usual Kung-Fu tricks (sudden close ups etc) still make their appearance as well as some really cool camera angles and tricks (the end of the opening sequence is a real tour de force for Quentin Tarantino). Kudos have to be given to Tarantino for creating the best and more nightmarish sequence of someone being buried alive, you'll be surprised by how uncomfortable he'll make you feel just by watching a black screen and hearing strange sounds. Credit is also due to Uma Thurman who did one hell of a nice job as the Bride (heck she deserves an Oscar for the last sequence of the film alone) and to David Carandine who was deliciously evil and enjoyable in the role of the eponymous villain.
I only have two gripes about the movie. Sometimes the story dragged on and there were some scenes that just took up time and stalled the story. The sequence where we see Budd working at the titi bar for example was very very long and it served absolutely no purpose. My other gripe is that the Bride's duel with Bill is really short, and out of balance compared to the huge amount of dialog between the two characters that preceeds it.
If Vol. 1 was all style and no substance, then Vol. 2 is all style and all substance. It's a different experience in many levels but it's still a very enjoyable one. If the reason you saw Volume 1 was because you liked the slick action scenes featured in the trailers, don't even bother watching Volume 2, you will be very disappointed. I rate this movie with a perfect 10. Simply put, alongside Big Fish (which debuted here in 2004), it's the best film i've seen this far in 2004.