the adventures of the Bride, round 2

Rating: 9/10 (12 August 2006)

Here comes the Bride again in what was one of the most-anticipated films of 2004 which like its elder brother "Kill Bill: Vol. 1" (2003) generated much hype. So far, she killed two important enemies (and many more into the bargain) and so erased two names on her list. There are still three left including Bill who will come last.
Through its title, "Kill Bill: Vol. 2" is both a sequel and a non-sequel. The Bride perseveres in her vengeful adventure still related in a chronological disorder but in some chapters or telling flashbacks, Quentin Tarantino reveals us some facts of her past life, notably how she became an expert at martial arts and so how she acquired her knowledge in this domain. Otherwise, this second installment is here to illustrate the famous sentence: "revenge is a dish best served cold". And like its elder brother "Kill Bill: Vol. 1" (2003), it's still painstakingly shot. The composition of every sequence, the way they interlock even the position of the characters. Everything is precise, set in a pedantic manner and filled with neat visual or scenarist ideas. About this, I would like to mention the first sequence, the key one which is the origin of the Bride's bloody, vengeful adventure. It's of course, the famous massacre scene in the church isolated in the desert. Tarantino favored off-camera so we will see almost nothing of it but the sounds of the massacre. Another scene is the fight between Uma Thurman and Daryl Hannah. Tarantino pulls it off with gusto to insert a violent fight in a cramped place which is a trailer. Then like in the great tradition of the film in which two antagonist protagonists confront each other, the filmmaker delays the final, decisive meeting between them until the end and when this moment will arrive, it won't be what the audience will expect in its construction and its evolution.
Like in its elder companion, the Bride perseveres in her desire of revenge and its fulfillment and as for Tarantino, he continues in his quest to pay homage to essentially the samurai film and the spaghetti western. Thus, "Kill Bill: Vol. 2" is filled with cinema-going details, borrowings or influences, here mainly linked to the second cinematographic genre. John Ford and Sergio Leone's worlds are quoted and in another extent, I wonder whether the scene when Budd buries alive the Bride in the ground wasn't influenced by George Sluizier's chilling "Spoorloos" (1988).
But "Kill Bill: Vol. 2" differs from its elder brother on numerous points. About the influences, if the samurai film was essentially to the fore in the first installment, the second one favors the spaghetti western, would it be only by the scenery and the barren landscapes. And as many users pointed out before, violent fights were the most momentous scenes in "Kill Bill: Vol. 1", at least the scenes which were the most vivid to the audience. These scenes take a back seat in "Kill Bill: Vol. 2" in spite of the admirable fight sequence I mentioned above. An increasing psychological tension in the confrontations between the characters reigns during a good part of the movie. Besides, the first sequence which partly showcases a long conversation between the Bride and her worst enemy Bill sets the scene for this chosen perspective. So, action and stunts are relegated to a position of secondary importance to leave the place to long, chatty sequences but Tarantino could have deleted Bill's superfluous words about Superman. Be that as it may, it was maybe the best choice from Tarantino because these long conversations have several functions: to act as a counterbalance to the choreographed action scenes, to unveil the characters' motivations and for the Bride, eloquent bribes of her past.
This assumed side from Tarantino to put the accent on the dialogs (very good in most of them) enables to appreciate the performances of the whole cast and this, perhaps more than in the debut opus. Minor characters aren't forgotten and I would grant a distinction to Michael Madsen as Budd, perhaps the best of the batch. The pinnacle of his acting has to be found in the scene when he's about to bury alive the Bride, he just has to say simple but formidable words to tame her.
I repeat it: I'm not really a Tarantino devotee but I have a warm spot on these two "Kill Bill" movies and I would trade "Pulp Fiction" (1994) for this duo of films. Various influences from diverse horizons were melded to give two well-rounded flicks which in spite of their different contents complete themselves. Was it wise from Tarantino to release it on two volumes? I think so because if the two films had been bridged end to end, it would have given a spotty, irregular film. So, it was perhaps necessary to divide two distinct parts.