So Many Thrills From Start To Finish

Rating: 8/10 (19 April 2004)

Some SPOILERS AHEAD. So watch out.
It's rare to find a film that is thrilling, hilarious, disturbing, dramatic, emotionally moving, and powerful. It's even more rare to find a film that has all these qualities often on the screen at the same time. "KILL BILL Vol. 2" is the second half of one the best films of last year. Originally meant to be a four hour epic, KILL BILL was split in two volumes. Vol. 1 amazed so many people and this film does even more than that.
KILL BILL is a homage to martial arts and samurai films that writer/director watched as a child. Both volumes constanly change genres which makes them even more amazing to watch. Vol.1 started as a 1970's revenge flick, then becomes a samuria film, and a japanese anime, where gore erupted in which limbs and heads flew. Vol.2, in the other hand, is more about story, character development, acting, it has a western feel to it, is a fun kung fu film which makes it even better than Vol. 1.
Many critics and moviegoers were turned off by the lack of depth and often cartoonish nature of Vol One. This is one of the reasons why KB should of remained one film, thats what people say but I think splitting it into two volumes was the right thing. The thin but exciting characters of V1 become more human in V2. What starts off as a stylish and exciting action film becomes more of a dramatic film for the ages. As we learn more about the backgrounds for each character, we start to understand them, like them, hate them, and finally, connect with them. Volume 2 has less violence than V1, but does it mean is less exciting. It's a richer, deeper and overall, an amazing story-line. The final themes are not revenge, or justice, as were those in V1, but love, courage, suffering, and what the future holds.
With these themes aside, KILL BILL is downright fun to watch. Uma Thurmans "The Bride", who was a killing machine in the first one, has some layers revealed here, and she becomes a warrior with purpose. Uma definiteley deserves alot of notice, come oscar time I hope she gets a nom. Not many actresses can potray this angry and violent character but shes does a great job at it. She becomes a memorable and heart breaking character here.
The rest of the cast deserve alot of notice to. Micheal Madsen, here becomes a great villain in a film with other great villains in it. Darrly Hannah is even better as Elle Driver, who was the brides main rival when they were both assasins. Her and the bride face off in a exciting fight which had the audience laughing, screaming, and covering their eyes. Then there's BILL. In V1 we never saw his face which made him mysterious. He's played by David Carradine, BILL is one of the most complex and involving villains since Darth Vader. As much as we despise him at first, we get to know him through flashbacks, we kind of start to like him a bit. What the bride and BILL both prove, is that within every killer, there is a nice person hidden. Carradine is excellent. Another fun character is Pai Mei, who in flashbacks trains the bride through some amusing scenes.
What more is there to say about this film, well edited, shot, acted, written, and directed. KILL BILL Vol 2 is a masterpiece. This movie definitely deserves some big oscar buzz because this is not only a masterpiece but one the greatest films of all-time. (A+)