To the satisfying appetizer Vol 1 is, Quentin Tarantino
serves up a excellent main course with Vol 2.
Such that one can walk away without a craving for dessert (read as no Vol 3)
Before I plunge into the review for the film, let me digress momentarily
to go into Tarantino’s origins. Unlike most other filmmakers, Tarantino
has learned filmaking from his days as a video store clerk.
Hence, he is influenced a lot by bootleg kungfu and action movies.
And who better than a video store clerk to understand what an
audience wants.
Thus, Tarantino pumps down the gore in Vol 2.
The film begins with a long close up of The Bride in
B&W heading towards her ultimate goal, to Kill Bill.
The last two opponents before Bill, his brother Budd
and the other Pai Mei disciple, the one-eyed Elle Driver
turn out to be formidable opponents for The Bride.
Except for a short fight sequence between Elle Driver
and the Bride in the confines of Budd’s trailer home,
which ends in a most stomach turning fashion,
most of the action is off-screen (the massacre of the
wedding party at the Two Pines Wedding Chapel, again in B&W)
The film also flashbacks (again B&W) to the time when The Bride
is trained by warrior master Pai Mei (Gordon Liu, voice
dubbed by Tarantino), also Bills master.
Tarantino has developed such an excellent character
in Pai Mei that I have added him to my top 5 Hollywood
characters, right up there with Hannibal Lecter and Yoda.
His flowing white beard and hair and his utter contempt for
those wishing to learn from him is at times so comic that
I almost burst out laughing.
Less action of course translates to more talk.
But in true Tarantino style, the talk is exquisite.
Bill’s Superman speech is a work of pure genius.
Also unforgettable is the conversation between The Bride
and Bill outside the chapel before the massacre.
Carradine is excellent as Bill so is Madsen as the laid back
Budd and Darryl Hannah is evil incarnate as Elle Driver.
The two movies together make up what may well be the best movie
for some time to come.
P.S. See if you can find Samuel L Jackson before the ending credits