Second part is more dialogue driven but still quite impressive

Rating: 8/10 (30 April 2004)

**SPOILERS**This second part of Tarantino's film ties up all the loose ends that were left after the first part ended last year and both parts are very different. Both have fight scenes and flavorful dialogue but in the first part the emphasis was on action while this is more dialogue driven. Part two has The Bride (Uma Thurman) now identified by name as Beatrix Kiddo killing the last two assassins from the Deadly Vipers Squad and then heading to kill Bill (David Carradine). Budd (Michael Madsen) is Bill's brother and he manages to shoot Kiddo with rock salt and then tranquilizes her so that he can bury her alive in a coffin. He calls Elle Driver (Daryl Hannah) and wants one million dollars for her and they agree but Kiddo manages to escape and goes to seek revenge.
*****SPOILER ALERT*****
Elle arrives and gives Budd his money but she has tricked him with a black mamba which kills him but then Kiddo bursts in and she and Elle are involved in a brutal fight. Kiddo wins and now she is off to find Bill and kill him but in one of the flashback sequences we see Bill bringing her to Master Pai Mei (Gordon Liu) who spends the next year or so learning martial arts. Kiddo finds Bill and before she kills him she discovers that he has the daughter that she was pregnant with! Kiddo finally meets her daughter B.B. (Perla Haney-Jardine) but later she and Bill have their ultimate showdown.
Quentin Tarantino opens this film in black and white but it does eventually move on to color and like the first part their is an abundance of music clips from both television shows like "Ironside" and films. This part has a noticable Italian Western tone to it and Ennio Morricone's score from "The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly" is played during a key scene. While the first part had at least 4 big fight scenes in it this part really has one and it's a wonderful spectacle between Thurman and Hannah. Otherwise this has just a sprinkling of action elements like Thurman being buried by Madsen and the training by Liu. Who would have guessed that the best fight scene in a movie this year would be between two women? Both Hannah and Thurman should be given as much praise as possible for their achievement and both of these talented actresses show they can play any role given to them. I can't wait until both parts are available on one special edition DVD and it will be interesting to view both parts in one day. Also in this cast is Samuel L. Jackson as Rufus the organ player and an unrecognizable Bo Svenson as the Reverend. Perennial "B" movie actor Sid Haig pops up as a bartender as well. Tarantino has masterfully created a story that is a loving homage to the martial arts films that he so dearly idolizes and this film is dazzling both in it's choreographed action and in the way it's photographed by cinematographer Robert Richardson. Both Thurman and Carradine give unflinching performances and what aids them is Tarantino's wonderful trademark dialogue that not only adds flavor to the action but gives their character's their soul.