Kill Bill Volume Two

Make no mistake about it, Kill Bill Volume Two does not fail to live up to the hype. Though a very different movie from the first, it's still an American slice of cinematic beauty, sure to leave the audience with a smile on their face, and possibly a tear in the eye. The story continues where Volume One left off... The Bride hunting down Bill, her former employer, for his attempted murder of her and her unborn child. After ploughing through two of Bills assassins (known as the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad or DVAS); Oren Ishii and Verenia Green, Volume two sees our un-named heroine pursuing the final two of the DVAS before attempting to gain bloody revenge on Bill. The film is not as flashy or as blood thirsty as its predecessor. In fact, the amount of blood spilt in the second film would barely fill a pint glass, whereas the first instalment was, at times, a literal blood bath. A far more character driven instalment, Kill Bill Volume Two features just one actual fight scene, but that scene takes credit for forcing me to turn away from the screen in horror, a rare occurrence for your dear reviewer.

Other than her performance in Pulp Fiction, I must confess that Uma Thurman hasn't impressed me massively. However, Kill Bill showcases her abilities wonderfully. Whether portraying the raw emotion of a mother loosing her child, or dawning the mask of revenge and brutally slaying her former colleagues, Uma impresses throughout. Once again, Tarantino plucks another forgotten actor from obscurity and provides them with a chance to shine. This time its David Carradine who gets the rubplaying ‘Bill‘. Unfortunately, he's not given much opportunity to portray his martial arts wizardry that he displayed in 'Kung Fu' (the TV show for which he is probably best known), but he does turn in an excellent performance. Carradine paints 'Bill' to be an intelligent and humorous character, qualities I'd never have expected a ruthless killer to possess.

The most entertaining character in the movie, in this reviewer's not so humble opinion, is the character of Pai Mei, the thousand year old high priest of the white locusts, who trains our leading lady. The eccentric old man is a clear nod to the old kung fu movies that inspired Tarantino to create Kill Bill. While showing complete contempt for 'The Bride', Pai Mei is able to raise the most laughs in the second instalment with his rapier like cutting remarks.

Obviously there's room for a third instalment, as illustrated early in Volume One, but Tarantino has been quoted as saying that he's fell in love with his character of 'The Bride', and that he wants her to live a happy life for the next few years, so, for the time being, we'll have to wait for the inevitable double disk DVD release, sure to be packed with features that fan-boys are sure to lap up. Until then, get down to the cinema sit back and enjoy this visual feast, if you get a fraction of as much pleasure this reviewer got, you're sure to be thoroughly satisfied with Kill Bill Volume Two.


UK Cinemas - 23rd April 2004

[Robb]

Quite a good review Pete. (y) Makes me want to give it another viewing...

[Pete!]

Cheers, thats the intention

[PapaZeb]

Couple of minor editing notes that an editor should have caught. (Mostly spelling errors - nae bad there on Pete, it's a good article - could stand to be a bit longer and more in depth, but the passion and enjoyment really comes out)

Yo. Editor types. Dae it!

[Robb]

Originally Posted by PapaZeb

Couple of minor editing notes that an editor should have caught. (Mostly spelling errors - nae bad there on Pete, it's a good article - could stand to be a bit longer and more in depth, but the passion and enjoyment really comes out)

Yo. Editor types. Dae it!

Editors are loosing it.

(lol)

[Pete!]

Yep, been mentioned. Forbes is sorting them.

[Kenny]

Forbes is sorting spelling? God help us. Nice to see something up there not by me.

[Pete!]

[Ghostsuit]

Originally Posted by PapaZeb

Couple of minor editing notes that an editor should have caught. (Mostly spelling errors - nae bad there on Pete, it's a good article - could stand to be a bit longer and more in depth, but the passion and enjoyment really comes out)

Yo. Editor types. Dae it!

I kind of liked the length any longer and I'd probably not bother reading most of it and if it was more indepth it might have given the story away more. It's made me want to actually go check the film out even though I've not wanted to see it before.

Not a huge fan of tarantino personally think he's over rated!

[Kenny]

The only rule about the length of reviews is there are no rules.

[PapaZeb]

Wasn't a rule - just a comment and a personal opinion.
Review = good, but I want more depth. Others want less. Opinions are like that.

[Ghostsuit]

Aye agreed everyone one has different tastes.

[Kenny]

I didn't say you said it was a rule. I said what I said what I said was a rule. And that's why my rule is good - it caters for all opinions.