Kill Bill Vol. 2

I enjoyed this more than Vol 1.   It doesn’t have Vol. 1’s sustained kinetic energy, which was essentially sustained carnage, but it reminds us what we liked about Tarantino in the first place: the writing (the dialogue, the surprises, the way with narrative).   Like all of his stuff, it’s a movie lover’s homage to his favorites, and as in Vol. 1 the nods are chiefly to Asian exploitation and Westerns, with this edition a bit more heavily weighted toward the latter.   Everyone’s already pointed out the nods to Leone and the famous closing shot from ‘The Searchers’.   I saw Antonioni in the landscapes and long takes.   Vol. 1 was susceptible to the most accurate criticism of Tarantino, which is that his work doesn’t have much depth, but Vol. 2 dispels this charge thanks to, in one word: Uma!!!   She brings soul and amazing depth of feeling.   Vol. 2 fleshes out the relationships, giving context to her phenomenal work.

- Apr 30, 2004