Starring: Uma Thurman, David Carradine, Michael Madsen, Daryl Hannah
Directed by: Quentin Tarantino

Kill Bill: Vol.2 is great comedy.

That's what I realized after having seen this "sequel" to last fall's first installment. Despite all the violence (or maybe because of it), these movies are actually pretty hilarious (especially the part with Pei Mei...oh man!)...darkly funny, but still. Once the audience realizes this, it's even more enjoyable. While the first part was wall-to-wall violence, Vol.2 is the opposite. It's the better movie.

From the second the movie starts, I was laughing. The awfully cheesy fonts used for the slight opening credits were as funny as the Klingon quote to open Vol.1. The story continues with The Bride (Thurman) hunting down the people on her list, until she finally tracks down Bill, father to her daughter. In the opening monologue, The Bride even addresses the audience and mentions the movie advertisements for Vol.1. As for basic plot, that's pretty much it. She has to kill this guy. Whereas in the first part, we really didn't know why, Vol.2 fills us in on background, making it (and Vol.1) much more satisfying.

My biggest complaint with Vol.1 was the lack of dialogue. I like seeing a QT movie for the original that very reason, but Vol.1 was full of numbing violence. Vol.2 is the opposite. Yes, it has some nice action, but the majority of its 2 hour, 14 minute runtime is talking. And more talking. But I didn't mind. I could sit there all day listening to that. And Tarantino's strength is not only writing: he's an excellent director, too. The use of different types of film, 1940s-style credits, 1970s-style music, colour/b&w scenes and intentionally cheesy zooms are unlike anything you get to see in other movies. It almost makes it too hard to go watch 'conventional' films where you pretty much know what you're gonna get. We thought we knew the gist of the characters from their brief glimpses in Vol.1, but it turns out we didn't know them at all. With Tarantino, everything is unexpected.

DroopyMcC
Queen