A masterpiece with eyeballs, trailers and soul

Rating: 10/10 (18 April 2004)

(minor spoilers)
Kill Bill vol. 2 is a masterpiece. It is the standard at what American Films should be measured on. Watching this one time you will begin to feel there is hope for us all that love cinema.
Where do I begin? Tarantino has gone the extra mile in every possible way. Some may say this surpasses Vol. 1, but that person must also consider the fact that this is just the second half of one great big film. All the action and visual quickness of Vol.1 was just a bit of collateral that would get the viewer to invest in the remaining of the film where it does unfold into longer character sketches and digs deep into the psyche of Uma's THE Bride.
This is a film that like everything Tarantino does, pays homage and tips his funny little hat to everything he, and you and I, have seen and twists it perfectly into something purely original.
From the opening of Uma driving with the processed sound stage background that contains south of the border palm trees behind her reminded me a lot of Hitchcock's Notorious. The image of the beautiful blonde driving is similar to Ingrid Bergman's beginning in that film. This may be Quentin's way of saying this is his star, just like Hitchcock showcased his actress's in a timeless way.
There are images and situation galore that resonate all the films he loves(Master of the Flying Guillotine, Five Finger of Death and Bruce Lee's work) and the directors that Tarantino loves, like the Fulci inspired buried alive scene, the the ongoing Leone western motif and yes Quentin is still professing his love for Brian De Palma. At first it seems to be the quick split screen that goes into effect as Uma and Darryl Hannah square off. The last time you saw these two together in Vol.1 their was an ode to De Palma's Dressed to Kill and the echo is felt as the two women's brawl here. But it is more a gesture to Carrie, because in that film the split screen is thrown in just as all hell is about to break loose in the school gym- in Tarantino's universe it will be in the trailer somewhere tucked away in the San Fernando Valley. And we see as Uma raises from her burial a shot of a hand shooting out of the grave just like the end of Carrie.
What I liked most was the shot of the Bride standing on top of a hill looking down on Budd's trailer which reminded me of Wes Craven's The Hills Have Eyes. It wasn't really a shot stolen from that film exactly, but it is framed similar to the artwork of that films poster, with the trailer sitting at the bottom of a small valley waiting as prey. And in this film, Uma is the predator to those inside this trailer. And I will go one step further, because in the scene that follows inside the trailer you see a poster of the Charles Bronson film Mr. Majestyk . With this in mind, please remember the scene in the Hills Have Eyes when all the terror of the canniball's attack is going on in the trailer and you see the poster of Jaws. Rumor/ Legend has it that Craven placed that poster in the trailer as a statement:"you think that movie was scarry? This film(Hills) you are watching is much more terrifying". So with that, can we say that the Bronson poster is making a statement, not about the film itself, but about the persona of Uma Thurman's the Bride. I think Quentin is saying, "Chuck Bronson was one of cinema's all time bad asses, but you know what after this is all over, Uma is gonna be right up there with him". I might be wrong, but it's fair to say that I might not be too off.
And with all these homages Tarantino has his on style. If this film was in the hand of someone like Michael Bay, we would be shown ten minutes of unnecessay slow motion and bullet point of view action during the Chapel Massacre. But not here, instead we see almost ten minutes of dialogue preceding the Massacre and the pull away and out of the building as the chaos insues. Just like Reservior Dogs, it is not the heist that mattered- it is how those involved in the incident deal with it afterwards that creates the real drama.
Uma Thurman steals the whole show, because she runs the gammit of persona. We see her as a violent/vengful survivor,to an eager kung fu student and as puddy in Bill's hands when she is at the pinnacle of her love for him. This is so well written and the acting by everyone(Carridean, Hannah, Madsen) seals the deal. The black comedy thrown in at the most perfect of moments sooth us from all the gore being handed our way.
Not to give anything away, but the ending will sqeeze you in every way. This is a film with more going than eyeballs popping out and white trash bitch fights. It has a soul all its own. Their is an abundance of subtext here. Where does a girl become a woman? In the most womanly of manner the expectancy of new life can make you change the way you live your life for a better tomorrow. This film may have feminist joining Tarantino's side, but most of all those that cheer for most humane in all of us will love this movie.
This is a film that covers similar film avenues; revenge, killing, death and love. But what sets it apart is its manner/how we are shown and told about all these things we have seen before. This is original and it is worthy of all the hype. It is now in my top five of all time favorite films.