This is a mild improvement on the first film, mostly because it ties up all the questions left open at the end of the first instalment. That said, it's mostly just as bad, the only real difference being the change of setting. The cold-blooded, icy, emotionless martial arts scene of Japan is substituted for the wilds of Texas, with its spitting, campervans and general obsession with guns (Tarantino not trying to dispel any clichés, just as he would later do in Death Proof). There are a couple of good performances in Volume 2 which lift the experience, even if the actors still have to work with terrible lines. Daryl Hannah, who had a bit part in the first film, comes into her own as the classy Elle Driver. It's probably her best role since Blade Runner, if nothing else because she looks more emotionally involving than she did in Splash. She certainly looks the part, as does Michael Madsen, who plays Bill's bouncer-and-bum brother, and the guy who buries Uma Thurmann alive. He comes across as a total sleezeball, and you don't feel sorry for him when he gets bitten in the face by a black mamba. Otherwise, this is as clunky as the first film. The script is cloyed and clichéd, the characters have no real depth and the martial arts sequences are included purely for style. Evidence of the script being bad can be found in two real places. The first is in the campervan where Beatrice (as she turns out to be) plucks out Elle's remaining eye. Hannah proceeds to writhe around the floor and all she can manage is to scream the word "bitch" over and over again until the word has no impact. The second example is the long drawn-out final confrontation between Bill and Beatrice, featuring a long and not especially profound conversation on comic books. There's more annoying manipulation of the storyline - for instance the extended flashback to Beatrice's marshal arts training with Pai Mei while buried alive. Considering Tarantino devotes more than 20 minutes to this part of her life, surely she'd be dead by the time it ended? She'd certainly not be strong enough to push her way out, having been gradually starved of oxygen. The ending of the film is also poor, with a terribly long and over-elaborate credits sequences, along with a sentimental yet unbelievable reunion of mother and daughter as they begin a 'normal' life together. Overall, Kill Bill Volume 2 is a mild improvement on Volume 1, is nothing else because it has two vaguely developed characters. But most of its acting is still wooden, its direction unoriginal, and the sheer barrage of pop culture references is really irritating. If you've seen the first one, you should watch this so that it makes sense; if you haven't, don't feel you're missing out.