Crazy Eighty Eight Out Of Ten

Rating: 8/10 (16 June 2020)

So. On to volume 2. Though lacking the action of volume 1, I came away liking this half of the story more than the previous one. It's more talky, more talky than even I remembered, but it's also more dramatic and it's moments of violence spread out.
The second half of the story shifts the focus back to America as The Bride (Uma Thurman) hunts down the remaining members of the VIPER hit squad Budd (Michael Madsen) and Elle Driver (Daryl Hannah) before heading after Bill (David Carradine) himself. However, after falling into a trap, The Bride has to recall specific training given to her by Pai Mei (Chai-Hui Liu) for just such an occasion.
It's definitely the less cooler half of the story. There's no iconic outfits, tunes, no pussy waggons. There's no action to rival the Crazy 88 scene, though the fight between The Bride and Elle Driver in the confined quarters of a mobile home is pretty great stuff. But it's a better story than volume 1. It has an Arc across it as we see the Two Pines Massacre, before what Budd is up to and his interactions with the bride that take us to one of the darkest points of a story that's filled with dark moment.
The ending is perhaps slightly underwhelming. The scenes between The Bride and Bill are fun, and the dialogue here is perhaps as close to Tarantino dialogue at its best that the two films ever get too.
What it is, is another Q.T. film that, whilst its quality is undeniable, I don't feel is an undisputed classic.