A good film at its heart, too overblown and misproportioned for its own good

Rating: 9/10 (2 October 2010)

Granted, Kill Bill vol. 1 was a tough act to follow. Considering that the two films were meant to be one big film, I was rather taken aback when I finally saw Vol. 2. I enjoyed it. There is lots to like about it, certainly. Unfortunately, it has its pretty glaring flaws to match.
The cinematography of the movie is pretty impressive, as is the set-up. The camera angles and staging all work very well. The coffin scene is quite difficult to watch, B/W to perhaps subtly accentuate the Bride's feelings, not so unlike those she felt at the chapel. The introduction, with all the people in the chapel, makes the viewer generally afraid for them, because we know what will happen to them, in just a few minutes time.
The acting is also very good, and the characters are given good room to breathe (perhaps too much room but bear with me). Uma Thurman is still fantastic in the leading role. We delve a little beneath her icy, broken exterior of the first movie and get a good look at this troubled individual. Sometimes, it's hard to remember that she's even on a bloody quest of revenge. David Carradine is compelling as her yang, Bill, someone who also makes us forget that he is, in his own words, "a murdering bastard". Daryl Hannah as Elle Driver, finally appearing after the appetiser of Vol. 1, is wickedly chilling and at the same time hilarious. Even with her, it gets hard to remind yourself that this woman is a heartless, vile being. Michaels Madsen and Parks give good, laid-back performances as well.
What bothers me about Kill Bill volume 2 is the same thing that bothers most people - it is such a different film from Volume 1 to make it feel rather flat by comparison. Most of the satisfaction we expected to feel after seeing Volume 1 is not handed out. Both Budd's and Elle's demises, albeit pleasantly and freshly unexpected, feel totally contradictory to the element of this as a revenge flick. There are a lot of scenes that have no significance to the plot. The whole bar scene could totally have been cut out; Bill's and Elle's scenes with Budd were enough to register the character to the audience. A lot of the dialogue really could have been shortened. I know that Tarantino likes to have his characters talk about stuff that really is irrelevant to the plot, and that he likes to homage past movies. All the same, a film has to be able to stand on its own. If its only level of engagement is that it shows film buffs references, that's alienating the involvement of a large number of prospective audiences.
It would be cruel of me to accuse KB2 of having no substance, though. There are themes of moral dilemma and unsuccessfully trying to flee who you are. Uma Thurman really goes all out with her character and turns in one of the finest performances of her career. The flashback scene with her (douchebag) master Pai Mei are entertaining and fill a large gap in the void of her backstory. It's just a shame that the albeit furious fight scene with Elle follows, where the Bride seems barely able to keep up (and this being the same woman we saw walk over everyone in her way in the last film). True, she's not exactly in an advantageous position. There is a general theme of smarts prevailing over brawn, as well as symbolism about just what revenge is.
For me, though, and for many people, this just really wasn't the conclusion the first film had been building forward to. KB2 is a good film at its heart, but it's rather overblown and could easily have been trimmed down to simply have the meat. We don't even see the Death List, which was so symbolic for the first film. Even the excellent confrontation with Elle can't save the overall impression of the film. In conclusion, I was expecting a closure to the same story, not what felt like the closure to an entirely different story.