Marginally Better than Vol. 1

Rating: 5/10 (18 March 2005)

The only reason KILL BILL VOL 2 is superior to VOL 1 is because both David Carradine and Daryl Hannah have more screen time, which helps to balance the awfulness of Uma Thurman's performance.
We also get the cool sequence in which Thurman undergoes her training with the master swordsman, which is shot like a gritty seventies Shaw Bros. kung fu flick. The entire sequence, however, winds up serving little more purpose than to explain how she gets out of her impossible situation of being buried alive at the hands of grunt Michael Madsen (playing a more down and out version of the same character he always plays).
Her ability in punching through a plank of wood from a short distance comes in handy when she has to punch through the coffin lid. Of course, this doesn't explain how she's able to punch through the ton of dirt that's been piled on top of it.
Hannah shines in her best role in years as the ruthless one-eyed assassin who kills Madsen for giving Thurman such an unceremonious death, despite the fact that she herself was all ready to kill her in her sleep not long before that. She also comes to a grotesque demise, which, unfortunately is made far less shocking by an unnecessary foreshadowing in the previous movie.
But the real shining light in VOL 2 is David Carradine. His presence is electrifying, and he carries the movie single handedly for the much of its running time. Unfortunately, he is forced to interact with Thurman during the final few scenes, with her bugging eyes and stilted delivery snuffing much of the life out of their exchanges.
These scenes are supposed to be emotionally devastating, but simply don't ring true at all, because Thurman isn't the least bit believable. She screams and cries and wails, but it's all so phony it has no effect.
The movie is worth sitting through for Hannah and Carrdine. Tarantino's direction is obvious and by the numbers, for the most part. The two movies together are a major disappointment from a filmmaker who's capable of delivering far better material.
Oh, by the way, "Q and U" stands for Quentin Tarantino and Uma Thurman. Isn't that clever?