A kinder, gentler Black Mamba. *SPOILERS*

Rating: 10/10 (16 April 2004)

The long-awaited sequel to Kill Bill Vol. 1 is worth the wait. There are no huge half-hour long swordfights, no exotic locales and caricatures of yakuza. Instead, we get a grittier look at The Bride (Beatrix Kiddo) as she takes to Texas and Mexico to chase her former mentor and lover, Bill.
We get excellent background on the massacre at Two Pines Chapel, we learn more of the relationship between Bill and Beatrix, as they edge closer and closer. You, the viewer who has seen Kill Bill Vol. 1, knows that The Bride at that time has no idea of the upcoming massacre, and thus Bill's words ring with menace.
We then cut to Budd, in one of the best scenes of the movie. While Kill Bill Vol. 1 was a pastiche of swordfighting, over-the-top action and so on, this one is stark, gritty, realistic. We see Budd has a dead end job and is looking for a fast buck. He dispatches of Beatrix with brutal efficiency, and the Texas Funeral was claustrophobic in the extreme. Elle is gorgeous and deadly. She IS "blonde ambition" and she proves it by dispatching Budd, then giving Black Mamba more than a run for her money.

The Cruel Tutelage of Pai Mei is an excellent segment, showing the training she got, and Pai Mei is cruel, but efficient. I loved some of the sequences in this part, especially the training to punch walls.
The last chapter is perhaps the most lush and stimulating, as Beatrix goes to find one of Bill's father figures, then Bill himself. And...Beatrix's child, B.B. :-> The child will melt your heart, and adds even more motivation for the bride to... Kill Bill.
Does she? How does she do it? Go see the movie to find out. Hopefully QT will release these as a whole in the theatres.
Five stars!