Quentin Tarantino falls once again, a sub par continuation of an exciting film

Rating: 5/10 (23 December 2004)

Writer/ Director Quentin Tarantino (Reservoir Dogs, Jackie Brown) continues his story from 'Kill Bill: Vol. 1', an exciting action/ adventure film that chronicles the revenge of The Bride (Uma Thurman) as she seeks to find those whom she used to trust and those who put her into a comma for four years. In Vol. 1, The Bride dispatched O - Ren Ishii (Lucy Liu), Vernita Green (Vivica A. Fox) and the Crazy 88 fighters. In 'Kill Bill: Vol. 2' the story continues as she seeks to find and kill Budd (Michael Madsen), Elle Driver (Daryl Hannah), and of course Bill (David Carradine), ending her rampage.
Tarantino created an exciting, action packed explosive piece of cinema with 'Kill Bill: Vol. 1' by using slick cinematography/ editing and combining several highly memorable action sequences with a cool story. Instead of choosing to make a film with similar style as Vol. 1, in 'Kill Bill: Vol. 2' Tarantino opts to make the film more plot orientated and dig deeper into the characters. Flashbacks are used a few times to develop the relationships between characters that once was, in particular The Bride and Bill at the wedding rehearsal. However, Tarantino is ultimately dogged by his murky screenplay and timid direction that fails to truly grab a theme and hold onto it. There is a dizzy and very spectacular fight scene in a trailer between Elle and The Bride, and a humorous flashback to The Bride's training by Pai Mei (Gordon Liu). However, these action scenes aren't enough to make the film interesting and it becomes purely dull. It is discovered in the very end of 'Kill Bill: Vol. 1' that The Bride's daughter is still alive, and in Vol. 2 they finally meet and try to form a bond. Bill finally is shown and developed. But it seems Tarantino was trying to go two places at once, and was trying to make an action piece and a drama at the same time.
Tarantino has always had a knack for making films with slang filled dialog, and stylish criminal characters. Bill is the culmination of Tarantino's style, particularly a scene in which he delivers a monologue about his thoughts on Superman. While Carradine definitely has some cool to him, the dialog ends up falling flat to the ground and it seems the depth, or whatever it was Tarantino was trying to achieve was totally lost. The film feels boring and patchy, instead of the tight focus Tarantino employed with 'Kill Bill: Vol. 1', Vol. 2 is by comparison much weaker and much more disconnected. The Bride is given more to do than simply fight this time, and she is asked to finally show more human emotions. Unfortunately, Thurman isn't half able to pull this off. While her grim emotions were perfect in Vol. 1, Tarantino gives her more to do but she is just incapable. One scene asks for her to be crying on the floor in a bathroom, and I couldn't help but laugh. She simply lacks the ability to perform. Carradine, as mentioned previously definitely has style but the murky screenplay doesn't give him the ability to really use it to full potential. Michael Madsen and Daryl Hannah are appropriate in their roles, particularly Hannah as the fork tongued bitch Elle. The usual sharp performances Tarantino gets from his actors is lost, and there is no one to blame but him. The film employs some sharp visuals as well, thanks to ace director of photography Robert Richardson (JFK), but visuals aren't as important to the story as they were in Vol. 1.
I give some credit to 'Kill Bill: Vol. 2'. There are some exciting moments in the film, and Carradine is able to give off some nice moments. But the flat screenplay by Quentin Tarantino and his unfocused direction break the film apart.
5.5/10