Excellent follow up to volume one

Rating: 10/10 (6 March 2005)

In Kill Bill Vol 2. Tarantino has focused more into storyline, characters and plot and given a little rest to the blood and gore of the first one. Making this one stand out and in my opinion surpass the first one. Once again the story picks up where part one left off, The Bride is still thirsty for revenge and has three more people to finish off, leaving last on the list, the most crucial of them all, Bill.
This time around, the movie follows a more spaghetti westernish path, and leaves the chop-socky, kung fu tributes a little bit behind. That's mostly in part because the targets are different and now most of the action takes place in American soil. This time we also finally learn The Bride's real name. Next on her list, is the white-trashy, trailer-dwelling brother of Bill's, Budd, played excellently by Michael Madsen, in his best role since Vic Vega in Reservoir Dogs. Budd is the only male member of Bill's killer squad. This time around we also find out why Budd is living the kind of life that he is, and are even taken on a little trip to his workplace to really see what his life has become after leaving the squad.
This time around we also learn how The Bride learned to kick ass the way she does, by seeing her taking a trip down memory lane while she's in a sticky situation of life and death and for about twenty minutes or so, we go back to the kung-fu, chop-socky tribute, and meet a new character in time, Pai Mei played by legendary kung fu actor Gordon Liu. We also see in action for the first time, the other member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, and only worthy match to The Bride, Elle Driver played by the still beautiful Daryll Hannah. Seeing Elle and The Bride's fight on screen is one of the best seen in recent Hollywood movies but the best part of the movie comes when The Bride finally finds Bill.I have to say, even for a role that was written specifically for him and that has somewhat to do with his earlier work, David Carradine still does an excellent job playing Bill. His charisma and coolness make him a natural at this kind of role. And speaking of coolness, one of my favorite actors, Sam Jackson, also makes a very brief appearance at the beginning of the movie that goes almost unnoticed, but as always he's great even if it's in a teeny little cameo. This movie, in true Tarantino style, is filled with great dialogue, in my opinion, the greatest since Pulp Fiction. Also, once again Tarantino chooses the perfect music for his work. The spaghetti-western music from classic films also blend with the movie perfectly. In conclusion, this movie delivers in all levels, action-wise, comedy-wise, story-wise, and dialogue-wise. So there is something for everyone in this movie. This one, along with volume one, make their mark as one of the first classics of the 21st century. 10 out of 10.