Kill Bill Vol. 2

Reviewed by:
Paul Ulane

Remember Kill Bill Vol. 1, the no-guts, no-glory hack ’n’ slash ode to kung fu flicks? Well, if you’re looking for a sequel, or really any continuity with the original, tough, because Vol. 2 veers off in an entirely different, and mostly unfavorable, direction. Quentin Tarantino reestablishes his love affair with Uma Thurman close-ups as our heroine checks off her hit list en route to the title-hogging Bill (David Carradine). Along the way, she faces two more former fellow assassins (Michael Madsen and Daryl Hannah) and, via flashback, her mentor (Gordon Liu) in training sessions. Tarantino again relies on style over coherence, but this time, his overindulgence swallows the movie whole. Thurman vs. Hannah provides the movie’s most memorable moment, while one particular escape by the Bride will have you sympathetically fidgeting for air. But the remainder of the bloody revenge quest is replaced with mind-numbing dialogue. Not the type of quotables that marked Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, but the type of melodramatic banter that no doubt fills Quentin’s quirky B-movie collection at home. If there’s anyone who can make such a meandering story look good, it’s Tarantino. This just wasn’t what we expected. Or wanted.