The best part was saved for the end...

Rating: 9/10 (24 October 2006)

A year after the release of "Kill Bill Vol. 1", director Quentin Tarantino's tribute to the 70s, appears the conclusion to the Bride's quest for revenge. While originally meant to be one single film, the studio forced Tarantino to make two films out of it due to the very long runtime the film would have had. Whether this information is true or not, personally I think that the decision to split the film in two was actually beneficial for the plot, as this allowed Tarantino the liberty to take two slightly different approaches (although the overall "feeling" is still the same in the two films) to tell one single bloody story of love, hate, and revenge.
"Kill Bill Vol. 2" presents the final part of The Bride's (Uma Thurman) saga, as we follow the former assassin in her way to meet Bill's younger brother, Budd (Michael Madsen), and her nemesis, Elle Driver (Daryl Hannah), numbers three and four in her list after killing O-Ren Ishii (Lucy Liu) and Vernita Green (Viviva A. Fox). However, the path to finally find and kill Bill (David Carradine) is filled with troubles and surprises, as the remaining members of The Deadly Viper Assassination squad are now expecting her and ready to make her meet her end. One question remains, will she be strong enough to kill her former boss and ex lover, Bill?
Just like the former chapter, "Kill Bill Vol. 2" is an ode to the films that inspired Tarantino to make films, and while the first volume of the saga was focused on 70s films (specially martial arts movies), this volume goes further in the past and showcases Tarantino's taste for noir films (in a very well-done intro that captures that style) and specially for Westerns. As the Bride moves to the West to face Budd and Elle, the Western genre begins to domain the film's style with nods not only to the Spaghetti Westerns of the 60s, but also to John Ford's classic films. Tarantino plays with his influences and pays a respectful homage to them (even manage to include a new nod to martial arts films) without going out of the context of his revenge tale.
"Vol. 2" marks a definitive change in tone from the first, as while "Vol. 1" is a visually arresting display of action, "Vol. 2" moves in a more personal, introspective environment, closer to the Western films that influenced it. Tarantino's script takes a strength unseen in the first part and the film becomes the character study that was missed in the first. The Bride's quest for revenge becomes more complex than what it seemed at first, and her enemies as well present inner conflicts that show a development from the first film. It's overall a less flashy, but more meaty film that completes the first part in a very fitting way. If "Vol. 1" is the visceral passionated side of the story, "Vol. 2" is the intellectual (although no less passionated) side of it.
Uma Thurman is back as The Bride and here finally she can show that not only she can do lots of stunt, she also can act. Her character's background is really expanded here and so are her chances to shine. Again, it is her character what drives the film, so her performance truly makes the difference between a dull movie and an exciting film. David Carradine finally appears as Bill, presenting a sympathetic side of a character we learned to hate in "Vol. 1". Not an easy task for an actor, and surprisingly Carradine makes it work. Personally, I had little faith in his performance but was pleasantly surprised by it. Michael Madsen and Daryl Hannah are fantastic in their roles as the Bride's former teammates; Madsen in a low-key performance that shows the underrated talent the man has, and Hannah in a role that shows her great skill for black comedy.
Many people bashes both "Kill Bill" volumes accusing them of being rip-offs of classic films, but I find such claims a bit naive or biased, as even when Tarantino certainly borrows a lot from those movies, he does it in a respectful way (and also carefully places the elements in his own world) that can only be accused of being a tribute rather than a shameless steal. Personally, I found "Vol. 2" to be the best part of the saga, mainly in the way the characters become as important as the visual style, and also in the way it references its influences without the flashy display of the first part. Still, watching the film is rather pointless without having seen "Vol. 1", as unlike the first one, this movie can't stand alone on its own (well, it's a direct sequel).
While the first "Kill Bill" is a triumph of style over substance, "Vol. 2" is certainly the substance's revenge. Tarantino concludes the Bride's saga in an almost flawless way that improves the first part and leaves the door open to new interesting projects in the future. Probably the separation in two volumes was for the best, as "Kill Bill Vol. 2" is a satisfactory conclusion for a bloody tale of revenge. 9/10