The Trouble with Bill, Part 2
Eric S. Kim | Southern California | 03/24/2010
(3 out of 5 stars)
"I explained in my review of Kill Bill Vol 1 that I generally did not enjoy watching the first film because of its excessive style & overstuffed pop culture homages and references. Well I didn't enjoy Vol 2, either, but it's because of different reasons. The second half of Tarantino's Kill Bill has a fairly simpler style, and far less pop culture references. That's the good thing, at least for me. But unfortunately, it doesn't stop me from disliking the film. The problem I have with Vol 2 is that numerous scenes are unbelievably ponderous mostly because of excessive dialogue. I don't have anything against dialogue-driven films (All The President's Men and Glengarry Glen Ross are some of my favorites that choose words over action), but the conversations in this particular film are pretty dull and uninteresting. They drag on so long that you have no choice but just sit there and wait for the fight scenes. And speaking of fight scenes, there are only fifteen minutes of fight scenes here compared to the half hour in Vol 1. You'll be sorely disappointed if you're expecting to see Uma Thurman battle dozens of swordsmen yet again. I did like the performances: Thurman and the late David Carradine are wonderful onscreen, and the supporting cast do a great job on their own. Still, I can't say that I enjoyed watching Kill Bill Vol 2. Like Vol 1, it's not a film that I would admire, even though many others do admire it. Again, if you love this film, then that's fine by me. But in my honest opinion, I don't really like this film, so I don't care for it very much.
Grade: C-"