kill bill: volume two – 4 stars

in my review of the first one, i sort of decided that the thing holding it back from being a 5 out of 5 was its incompleteness. it was all style and not enough content, and obviously it didn’t finish the story. it was a fucking great time though.

for the second one, i’d say it was the yin to the first one’s yang. where the first was almost entirely action, action, blood, blood, the second filled out the other half of the badass-centered movie with a lot more storyline and hard talk. the characters face to face being the large, willful, cool-as-hell, clint eastwood from fistful of dollars types you know quentin wanted them so badly to be. and it was a fucking great time again.

my criticism after having seen both then is pretty nominal… it’s solely an editing complaint. i would rather have watched the whole movie at once, as i guessed after seeing the first one, and that maybe a few parts had been switched around to even it out a bit more. spread the killer fights and the killer character development throughout the whole story. that way the first one doesn’t feel shallow compared to the second, and the second doesn’t seem so dialogue-heavy compared to the first. because i definitely could have used a bit more of those ‘holy shit!’ moments i kept getting in volume one this time out, although the ones you do get are soooo worth it.

nonetheless, outstanding job by david carradine as bill. what a priceless character. and what a great set of movies — i can’t wait to see that director’s cut DVD (before christmas? come on quentin, please? it’ll make a great holiday gift!).