a worthy conclusion of last years gorefest!

Rating: 7/10 (2 May 2004)

Volume 1 spoilers ahead!!
I thought the first half of Kill Bill was stimulating in the sense that it delivered an interesting cinematic experience. The action was good but the rhythm felt somewhat wrong with the big ending fight (the kill'em all and the one-on-one felt kind of like one big thing with only a slight pause to mark the intersection) being sort of all there was to the climax of a so far dull plot. For a film to be really great I think it has to surprise me in some way or make me think about things, this is absent in Kill Bill.
Volume two put the plot to a little higher grade though it still isn't the most fascinating ever. The style of the film isn't as much Japanese manga-inspired (with the Japanese subject of revenge dead and all) but feels more like a classic American action movie..
The playing with styles is really the strength of Kill Bill and this is just as wonderfully displayed in vol 2 as it was in vol 1. The film felt more fluent, and though there was a lot of dialogue it felt pleasurable listening to, perhaps more because of the way it was performed than what was actually said..
Overall - a better film throughout than vol 1 but even better as the ending to the great movie that is "Kill Bill" 8/10