The final, unexpected touch to a remarkably beautiful and brilliant saga

Rating: Null/10 (22 April 2004)

minor spoilers ahead...
Quentin Tarantino has crafted a magnificent piece of cinema that has an unexpected beauty, resonance and ultimate maturity that undermines Vol.1, which, although an explosive collection of balls-to-the wall grindhouse action and a superb Saturday night at the movies, could almost be seen as not much more than a throat clearing in comparison. In a word, the film is breathtaking. It has everything that a film fan could ever want; comedy, romance, action, horror, suspense, as well as a script of the likes you've never heard of before. Q.T's actors, Thurman, Madsen and Carradine particularly, know this film is more than just a plain and simple roaring, rampage of revenge. They are heartfelt, effortlessly skilled in the art of cool and brimming with charm. Tarantino, meanwhile, somewhere in the background (or foreground) of every frame, has proved himself to be the Shakespeare of comic books, a poet of pop culture, a jukebox to an endless riff of great music.
For a start, as with the first part, the film is an orgy of cinematic enthusiasm. Film fans will lap up the references to movies such as Fulci's 'Zombi 2', 'Babycart At The River Styx', 'Branded To Kill', 'Carrie' and countless Spaghetti Westerns. A particular highlight is Pai Mei's character- a typical Shaolin priest/trainer played by Liu - made famous by the film this sequence lovingly homages, '36th Chamber Of Shaolin'. The Lonesome Grave Of Paula Schultz, (itself a reference to a film called The Wicked Dreams Of Paula Schultz), is a superbly gruelling half-an-hour with heavy comic undertones, masterful direction and Madsen's ever likable presence. The opening sequence, if slightly stilted, still provides comedy and a well marked change of style from Volume 1. The soundtrack too, a sweeping succession of Ennio Morricone feel totally at home and will have fans (including myself) smiling widely. Other passing moments wash by, Black Mamba snake deaths narrated by grisly internet facts, a Silent Flute homage by Carradine on Pei Mei, a Johnny Cash backed ninja scene, a Fulci eye-gag and heavily layered self referential humor, all of which give the film a unique, dynamic feel that makes it incomparable with anything else. In a way that reminded me of Pulp Fiction, still my favorite Tarantino film, it has an overwhelming creativity that never numbs, but always surprises and impresses.
The final act is really where this film not only enters a different league, but creates its own. When Thurman's Kiddo witnesses a comic recreation of her 'rampage' starring none other than her little girl, the conventions of the double bill have been officially thrown on their head. We have been taken out of the movie-movie world, and smack bang into reality. What follows is one of the most touching, unique and instantly brilliant scenes ever shot since Edison invented the camera. As well as highlighting Carradine's talent (as if this needed to be proved), the scene also highlights the voice of Tarantino. On face value, perhaps, what we've come to expect from Tarantino seems like it may have left the theatre. But what we're seeing is his most personal piece of writing so far. His youth, only-child to a single mother, is openly reflected as Kiddo and her daughter watch Shogun Assassin. The unexpected track 'About Her' hones us in on a searingly moving piece of film, its melody laden with tragedy. The colors from the TV splash onto Thurman's emotive face displaying the kind of subtlety we don't really expect from Q.T, let alone from Kill Bill, and the film has been given a backbone no amount of bloodshed would have provided.
This, and Bill's exit, are utterly remarkable moments in a film full of remarkable moments. Bill is killed, not in searing black and white from a rip roaring samurai slice to the throat, but like Emilio the fish B.B takes out of the water. A man, who in full knowledge of his wrong doing, accepts what has come to him, and dies as a father. One minute he's flapping on the carpet, the next minute he's not flapping on the carpet. What better way than to express death, something the films have dished out by the bucketful, and that critics have endlessly criticized Tarantino for? And, what responsibility on Tarantino's part not to shy away from giving his film a moral core, as well as an emotional one, that makes it more than just a 2D comic book. The enthusiasm behind the camera is still 110% in evidence, but it doesn't need to carry the film anymore. There's a core to this that not many could have possibly expected, and what we realize we are seeing by the end, is Tarantino's most 3 dimensional films so far, as well as of course, the best film of the year.