Tarantino enters Spaghetti Western mode

Rating: 7/10 (12 July 2008)

The first part to Quentin Tarantino's overly violent and exploitative revenge epic was a love letter addressed to Japanese Pink films and Kung Fu flicks. This second part is his homage to Spaghetti Westerns. The main difference between the styles of the two films is the pace - while the original was fast and furious, this one is a much more thoughtful and drawn out affair and while that may intrigue some viewers more; I have to say that Volume 1 did more for me. Still, it's quite clear Tarantino surely knows how to make a bona fide cult film and thoroughly entertain his audience on the way - and this film succeeds in doing that admirably. The plot is very simple and follows on directly from the first film. Having ticked off the first two names from her 'death list', The Bride now closes in on the final three killers that ruined her wedding day - Budd, Ellie Driver and of course, Bill himself. The film follows The Bride as she tracks down the killers, also filling us in further on the story of the revenge and her relationship with Bill.
The key to this film's success is really very simple - colourful characters and sharp dialogue. I have to be honest and say that I found the script for Kill Bill Volume 2 to be weaker than some of his previous efforts with much of the dialogue coming off as being extremely forced - but this is a comic book thrill ride at it's best and the characters themselves shine all the way through. As mentioned previously, the film is much slower than the first one, although there's plenty going on and the first hour and twenty minutes is a constant thrill ride complete with menacing characters and grisly situations (though nothing to rival the amazing climax to Volume 1). Of course, the entire two part epic is a build up to the central character carrying out the title's statement and Tarantino really had a lot of promise to deliver on with the ending. Anyone hoping for a spectacular face off (me for example) will be extremely disappointed, however. David Carradine does get lots of opportunities to justify his place in the film - he's by far the most natural actor in terms of how he delivers his dialogue and Tarantino rewards this by giving him plenty of interesting things to say; but the final showdown is over far too quickly. The film has other problems too; the biggest being some very silly and difficult to believe sequences (such as the flashback during The Bride's talk with Bill) that bring it down a little, but in spite of that; this is still a very good cult film that should not disappoint too many people that loved Volume 1.