A two-hour plus episode of "Kung Fu"

Rating: 6/10 (28 December 2004)

Seriously, I don't get why the "Kill Bill" movies are held in such high regard. I loved the first three Tarantino movies and thought "Kill Bill Vol 1" was OK. "Volume 2", however, is one of the biggest disappointments I've ever seen recently.
"Kill Bill 2" continues the (paper-thin) plot of the first movie, but otherwise it's almost completely different. There is almost no action, much less eye candy (part 1 was "style over substance", while this one has neither substance NOR style), and a lot more talking. Normally, you'd say that a Tarantino movie with tons of dialog would be a good thing, right? In this case, however, I found the dialogs to be fairly boring. There are still a couple of amusing parts, but for the most part it's random chit-chat between rather dull characters you don't care about and don't relate to.
For all it's differences, there's also something that both Kill Bill movies have in common: they're both way too long. In part one, the violence got boring long before the end, and in this movie all the talking becomes boring even faster. Face it, a very simple and predictable revenge story just isn't enough to fill four hours of movie, but Tarantino over-indulges himself in way too many things that he thinks are cool or clever, whereas mostly they're just lame or silly.
I have to admit that Kill Bill 2 does a couple of things right, though. The flashback about the martial arts training by an ancient Chinese master is entertaining, and the fight between The Bride and Elle Driver is marvelous. I also think that David Carradine does a wonderful job of playing Bill. But those are only a couple of bright spots in a sea of dull dialog and unnecessary scenes.
In the end, "Kill Bill Vol 2" is a two-hour plus episode of the old TV series "Kung Fu": it's about martial arts, there are flashbacks, and there's a lot of talking and very little action. If you're into old Kung Fu movies, chances are that you'll still love this one. But for those who actually prefer an interesting story and characters over a lot of supposedly cool fluff, "Kill Bill Vol 2" is best described as "fairly boring".
**1/2 out of ***** stars