More talking but just as much bloody fun

Rating: Null/10 (26 April 2004)

CONTAINS ONLY MINOR SPOILERS
TARANTINO's revenge saga may have sounded like a one-note concept on paper - a bride/assassin gets gunned down on her wedding day and sets out to murder those responsible - but boy has he proven us wrong. Dead wrong. Splitting Kill Bill into two parts appeared to be a cop-out for such a long-winded director, too lazy to fiddle with the editing knobs for too long, but instead it was a masterstroke that you cannot help but wonder might have been up his sleeve from the start. Vol. 1, as everyone now knows, was the verbose one's love-letter to Japanese cinema. The elegant simplicity, a tidy list of deserving victims, physics-defying martial arts and clipped, referential dialogue, Tarantino took all his days as a video store clerk watching 70s Kung Fu flicks and created his own blood-soaked homage - while splicing in his own iconography (the yellow tracksuit for one). True, it was a gory, genre bouncing visual treat that matched the audience's expectations but still it often felt like just an overblown exercise in cinematic excess. Where were the plot, the characterisation and Tarantino's trademark verbalisms? What, ultimately, was the point? He promised Vol. 2 would not be more of the same and, while the critics already had their Hattori Hanzo swords at the ready for a bloody backlash, he really wasn't lying. The Bride (Uma Thurman), after polishing off her first two victims, now has just three left on her 'Death List'. The washed-up psycho Budd (Michael Madsen), the downright evil, one-eyed Elle Driver (Daryl Hannah) and some guy named Bill (David Carradine). But if you were expecting another semi-linear samurai sword clashing spectacle, then think again because Vol. 2 is a whole different kettle of fighting fish. The first hour contains almost no violence at all but instead relies on Tarantino's oft-imitated verbal sparring, in style more like the more mature Jackie Brown than the masculine tirade of Reservoir Dogs.
The characters trade words not blows and only resort to fisticuffs when they can apparently talk no more. Even the sadistic/masochistic (see Bill's oblique explanation in the intro) church massacre is shown off screen. However, this is not to say Kill Bill has become a Linklater-esque talkie. We still have The Bride being buried alive, some truly tortuous martial arts training (Gordon Liu as our heroine's perpetually beard-stroking mentor Pai Mei is brutally hilarious) and Bill himself floating around the scenes like a malevolent ghost. The visceral catfight between The Bride and Elle Driver provides the only real action in the movie and, while intricate in its detail, never matches the climactic conflict with the Crazy 88 in Vol 1. Instead the 'sequel' focuses more on the intricate relationship between Bill and his protégé/lover, leading on from the twist that her baby is still alive. We learn that The Bride scorned our villain's affections and the carnage at the church was his form of revenge - an act he admits was an "overreaction". Like all great romantic tragedies, the strategic use of violence symbolises the cruelty of emotions and begs the question: 'Does a broken heart deserve a broken leg?' The scene where The Bride storms into face her final opponent is so disarming in its exposition, only someone whose read the early draft of the script on the net will fail to be flummoxed. Of course, such a humanistic film relies on captivating performances and in Carradine (he was once on TV in the 70s don't you know) and Thurman, Tarantino has picked the perfect (anti) couple. Bill is at turns charismatic, funny, self-depreciating, warm and unrelentingly violent, while Thurman walks a fine line between emotional mother and ruthless killer. Both actors truly inhabit their roles and even the lame truth serum scene, where Bill bangs on about superheroes in sub-Kevin Smith style, is glossed over by the duo's enigmatic screen presence. The director may leap relentlessly between genres - grindcore martial arts, spaghetti western, black comedy and theatrical drama to name only a few -, but his over-confidence and egotism help the film feel almost seamless. Vol. 2 is self-indulgent slightly overlong, some judicious cutting at the end could have been a blessing, but it is still a unique piece of cinema that will confound the expectations of everyone who sees it. To put it bluntly, Tarantino still kicks ass, even when he puts his stars' weapons away.
Four stars