“That woman deserves her revenge. And we deserve to die.”
“But then again, so does she.”
As Kill Bill Volumes 1 & 2 were initially intended as a single, epic film, I sometimes feel like it’s a disservice to discuss them separately. They’re meant to be a whole, and the fact that they are two chapters is both a financial and a creative decision. The film would have to have been shortened for wide release, and that would have meant losing what Tarantino calls the “grace notes” – things like the animated sequence in Part 1 – that he also considers essential to the films. It wasn’t until 2025, when the film rights returned to him, that Tarantino finally released the film as intended: Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair, running at a bladder-busting 253 minutes. (There was a limited run in 2011 at the Tarantino’s own New Beverly Cinema.)
Watching both films for this review is the first time I saw them as a whole, and I have to say that it works. As a gestalt, the narrative is somehow greater than the individual pieces. Maybe some things could be moved around to change the pacing a little, but I like the whole better than I liked each individual piece.
All that being said, the vast majority of people DID see them as two separate films. Certainly that’s how I first saw them.
For many people, Volume 2 was a disappointment after the action-filled and gory delights of Volume 1, but I’ve always had a soft spot for it. Yes, it’s dialogue heavy and slower-paced, but have you seen a Tarantino film? That’s, like, his thing. And while splitting up a narrative into two parts, one action-oriented and the other mostly character-driven talking scenes, is what initially bugged me about Death Proof, here I find the change of pace refreshing. Volume 1 throws us into the middle of a violent revenge story, but Volume 2 builds the backstory and the characters (while still giving us some oh so entertaining violence).
Volume 1 used Shaw Brothers Hong Kong action films as a general inspiration (even including the classic ShawScope logo in the opening credits), with tons of references to classic Hong Kong Kung-fu flicks, such as The Bride wearing a version of Bruce Lee’s outfit from Game of Death. That continues in Volume 2, but other influences also take over. Many of the chapters are probably inspired by spaghetti westerns, but some of it – particularly “The Lonely Grave of Paula Schultz” – have always reminded me of early Cohen Brothers films, like Blood Simple.
After the heightened themes of honor, vengeance and betrayal in the first film, the grimy, sleazy tone of the first few chapters in Volume 2 can seem a step down into the muck. For me, though, they’re like classic Blaxploitation films of the 1970’s and help ground The Bride’s vengeance tour. And as much as I love the classic fight with the Crazy 88’s and O-Ren Ishii, the fight between The Bride and Elle Driver (Daryl Hannah) is just as fun, if more chaotic and less operatic. Using everything around them as weapons while being unable to open their swords in the close confines of Budd’s trailer is just genius.
I was also happy to see some great “grumpy master” Wuxia training as well, with Gordon Liu as Master Pai Mei, and I would dearly have loved to see some more wire work in this sequence. It feels a little like an aside, but is essential to the conclusion of both the fight with Elle Driver and, of course, the film’s storyline.
If there is any place the film falls down a bit for me, it’s in the ultimate confrontation between The Bride and Bill. Two films have built up to this moment, and while we (okay I) expected some kinda cathartic conversation, I also expected some ultraviolence. Instead, we get nearly 40 minutes of self-justification and moralizing (and a complete misunderstanding of the character of Superman). I like it better this time around (especially given the earlier reveal of the Bride’s real name and how it changes what I thought was a term of endearment into a cold, “just business” way of talking to her). I’m not sure if Tarantino was hoping to humanize Bill, or make us hate him more, but he was way more successful at the latter. I’m sure this was a way to upset expectations, to give us something unexpected (with some satisfaction at the very end), but it doesn’t quite work for me. I was hoping for another set piece, maybe with the two of them trying to fight quietly in order to make sure they don’t wake up BB. Instead I got a heightened conversation, which was well written but seemed kinda pointless.
Your mileage may vary, but it’s the only reason I give Volume 2 a lower rating than Lee gave Volume1.
In the end, I did love the movie, and as I said earlier, I love the whole more than the parts.
This and Volume 1 are probably my favorite Tarantino films – they solidified my feeling that Tarantino is at his best when he’s mashing as many of his influences together as possible, and having as much fun as he can at the same time. At his worst, it feels self-indulgent and piecemeal, but at his best – like here – it transcends mere emulation and becomes something new and amazing.
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