even better than Vol. 1

Rating: 8/10 (11 October 2005)

Unlike its predecessor, "Kill Bill, Vol. 1," which was basically a triumph of style over substance, the follow-up, "Kill Bill, Vol. 2" is a triumph of both style AND substance - a no-holds-barred action film that turns into a thinking man's thriller in its climactic scene. This installment picks up where the earlier one left off, with Beatrix Kiddo, the former assassin attempting to go straight, still seeking revenge against the people who killed her fiancé and friends, and left her for dead on the eve of her wedding. Beatrix, an expert at swordsmanship and martial arts, follows an inexorable path of destruction, culminating in a brilliantly choreographed showdown with the Bill of the title, her former lover and hit man boss who decided to turn his gun on her when she ran off and left him. But the surprise - and triumph - here is that the showdown turns out to be one not of bullets and blows, but of words and ideas.
The plotting could not be more simple and direct, a series of cat-and-mouse fight scenes, periodically interrupted by flashbacks showing how Beatrix got to where she is today. Quentin Tarantino's trademark dialogue is sharp, imaginative and witty, and the violence is a fascinating hybrid of the cartoon-like and the graphic. Tarantino is a lover of movies and this is reflected in the stylish look and sound of the film: the beautiful compositions, the bizarre camera angles, the razor-sharp editing, and the glorious soundtrack, all of which make this an eye-filling and ear-caressing experience for the viewer.
Uma Thurman delivers a pitch-perfect performance as Beatrix, bringing a mixture of steely-eyed ferocity and warmhearted tenderness - as well as an amazing athleticism - to the role. She is more than matched by Keith Caradine as the terrifying yet strangely likable Bill - and their final confrontation scene, in which these two natural born killers sit down and discuss both their love and hatred for one another before squaring off in their battle to the death, is amazingly compelling in its complexity and depth. It is here where the "Kill Bill" saga finally becomes a work of art. As a result, this second film is a more satisfying work overall than the first. But, taken as a whole, this is certainly Tarantino's best work since the seminal "Pulp Fiction" from ten years earlier.