Shocking, terrifying and fun. A full movie - more enjoyable than vol 1

Rating: Null/10 (2 May 2004)

Kill Bill Vol 1 and Vol 2 are two quite different movies, and to be able to describe the movie experience I had today I'm simply going to have to compare the two. Here goes:
Vol 1 was highly anticipated by most Tarantino fans and "film buffs(c)(tm)" - and I just couldn't shake off the feeling many of these people liked Vol 1 simply because they wanted to like it, and because it fit easily into their "Code of Coolness in Film". To put it in another way, I saw a lot of people just swallowing Vol 1 whole without being able to explain to me what they found so amazing. Hence, Vol 1 became, in my opinion, overrated.
The concept that most annoys me with Vol 1 in particular, is that when a fightscene is introduced, you know the one(s) not being Uma Thurman will die horribly. Then, it takes a lot of time before said death(s) occur.
Like it was in vol 1, where you knew ridicoulusly little on characters and background, it left you as a puppet watching people you had no relationship with - shed ketchup aesthetically, and "fighter B" inevitably having to die.
Boring - unless you're the kind of guy/girl who enjoys it to the max every single time you see a gush of artificial blood. Though I'll admit that might have been fun back in VHS days when parents still frowned at "violence as entertainment".
In Vol 2, events and scenes take more surprising turns than in Vol 1. Vol 2 also goes deep into characters and story, and lets actors ACT in addition to doing the "grrr!" thing. We see more of the reasons why the characters did what they did - and why they do what they do. Tarantino is first and foremost good with shaping solid characters and solid scenes, and that comes well out for this part of "Kill Bill".
Vol 2 is also quite horrifying at times, and yes, I am more or less pointing to the grave scene here. That one shakes you good for a long while. Then follows the parodic and fun chapter with Pai Mei, The Bride's strong "kung> fu"-master - this is refreshingly light and feels good after The Grave. That contrast had a lot of good movie energy in it.
A lot of people have been calling this movie inferior to Vol 1 - they're simply wrong - on several levels. I think it's safe to say Tarantino wanted to make two contrasting parts, where Vol 2 had the actual content and plot of the movie. So basically what it boils down to, is whether you were ready for Kill Bill to become a Movie.
OK - Vol 1 is quite predictable, but a good 2 hours - it has a lot better music than Vol 2, and is also more experimental in filming than this one.
In fact, both are good movies, and as a whole, "Kill Bill" leaves a mark in your memory. Still, as separate parts, Vol 2 is surprising, shocking, emotional, terrifying and fun where Vol 1 was more or less "shocking and fun" alone. Was this contrast intended? Probably. Anyway, if you're only going to watch one of them (for some reason), watch this one.