Kill Bill: Vol. 2

I really, really, really, loved Volume 1 of Kill Bill. It was an energetic, beautifully-shot martial arts film that blew me away. I made the mistake of going into Volume 2 under the belief that it would be the same as the first half of the story, only more action-packed! The Crazy 8000! Unfortunately, Kill Bill Vol. 2 abandons the martial-arts angle for the most part, instead choosing to focus on director Quentin Tarantino's other strong spot: Dialogue.

That's not to say Volume 2 is a bad film. It's very good. It's a different beast then Volume 1, choosing story-over-style. The characters are developed greatly and given more dimension, as the Bride continues to kill those who worked with Bill (I hope it's not a spoiler that she kills Bill, but she does, and the scene where she kills him is the best scene of the film, with brilliant performances from Uma Thurman and David Carradine).

The film seems to be slow on purpose, as characters spend ages talking to each other. This isn't a first for Tarantino, as his films do tend to have long scenes. However, here the conversations are...boring. They lack the wit and quick back and forth that films like Pulp Fiction had. It's almost a neccesity for this to happen, however, as it gives substance and meaning to the character's motivations. Tarantino's directing is still strong throughout the film, especially in a flashback sequence where the Bride is taught by the mystical old warrior known as 'Pai Mei' (who deserves his own film more then any other Tarantino-created character).

As a whole "Kill Bill" is an incredibly fun, dramatic and exciting saga, with a fascinatingly unique style that only Tarantino could create and keep afloat for over four hours.

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