Overview

better than the first volume, but slower. less blood bath and more character development.

Cast

i loved seeing a younger, more carefree beatrix and uma thurman did a great job with this character, especially in the scenes with david carradine (particularly at the wedding rehearsal). the scenes with pai mei are great and elle driver is fleshed out. her schtick with the notebook was great. michael madsen was surprisingly touching (at times) as budd.

Tech

technically, i thought the changes in style were a little distracting; the genre switches were more jarring than in the first movie, plus the dialogue seemed (is this possible?) more stilted than the first, although this is quentin tarantino, so what do you want? his movies are always highly stylized mouthfuls, so ‘kill bill’ follows along nicely.

In summary…

if i had to choose one to watch, i (surprising myself here) would probably choose ‘vol. 1’ for it’s entertainment value (see this for my love of pure entertainment), although i think ‘vol. 2’ makes for a much better standalone film. i am looking forward to seeing ‘kill bill’ back to back so i can really feel the full story/character arc.