As a stand alone motion picture, Volume 2 of Quentin Tarantino’s epic, Kill Bill, works. This immediately makes Volume 2 a superior film to the film-fragment which is Volume 1. Hardcore fans of Volume 1 may be disappointed with Volume 2, as it contains a great deal less action, and much more talking and character development. In fact, the long awaited final confrontation with Bill involves more talking than fighting. Yet for me as a critic and as a cineaste, this equates to a more complete movie and a better movie-going experience as it adds depth to the shallow, 2-dimensional Bride we came to know in Volume 1.
With this being said, I must again protest the corporate greed behind this all. I really admire Quentin Tarantino as a film-maker. He has been able to carve a distinct style, and all though his filmography is limited to only four feature films (Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, and Kill Bill), each is a labor of love for the director, which shows on screen. This is why I am so perplexed at the hacking of Kill Bill. This is one movie, with one production budget, one filming schedule and one set salary for all the stars, etc. Volume 2 is NOT a sequel. Thus, why is Miramax (the studio which is known as “the studio that Quentin built” because of the massive success of 1994’s Pulp Fiction) demanding ticket price times two to see one movie? It seems so anti-Quentin! Kill Bill would have worked perfectly as one big movie with a ten minute intermission. Just enough time to get let people take a bathroom break and talk excitedly about the remaining people left on The Bride’s (we learn her real name in Volume 2) hit list.
Volume 2 is an improvement over Volume 1 in terms of content and character, no doubt. In comparison, Volume 1 seems like a near-disposable prologue and introduction to the real movie: Volume 2. Yet Volume 2 does lack that certain “wham-bam!” over-blown action element of Volume 1, which is so distinctly Tarantino, and it’s little touches like that which are missing from Volume 2.
Grade: B+
P.S. As I am sure you have noticed that neither my review of Volume 1 or Volume 2 contains a complete critique. That is because I have decided to write a full review of Kill Bill as a whole. The way it was meant to be seen; without all the corporate greed.
© 2004 Jacob Sproul
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