Tarantino back in top form

Rating: 8/10 (18 April 2004)

I have to admit, I was one of the few people that didn?t like Kill Bill Volume 1. It was self-indulgent, superficial, soulless, and WAY overrated. Volume 2 takes a 180-degree turn and goes back to the Quentin Tarantino that we all know and love--great storytelling, great character development, wonderful dialog, and dark, wicked humor.
*** SPOILERS AHEAD ***
The Bride (Uma Thurman) continues her quest for revenge against Bill and the remaining two assassins that tried to kill her during her wedding rehearsal. After a failed attempt at taking out the washed-up Budd (Michael Madsen), the Bride is buried alive and left for dead?again. In flashback, we learn that the Bride was trained by the legendary martial arts priest, Pai Mei (Gordon Liu in a scene-stealing performance as the bearded, bushy eye browed master). Having practiced the three-inch punch repeatedly, the Bride manages to hit her way out of her claustrophobic, wooden coffin.

Meanwhile, Budd agrees to sell the Bride?s Hatori Hanzo sword to Elle Driver (Darryl Hannah) for $1 million. Bitter that a loser like Budd had the pleasure of killing the Bride instead of her, Elle double-crosses him by hiding a black mamba in the suitcase of cash. With Budd out of the picture and the Hanzo sword in hand, Elle is about to leave Budd?s trailer when is she greeted by a drop kick from the Bride. What follows is one the best and most brutal catfights ever captured on film. I won?t spoil the fun with the details, but Elle?s painful demise is sweet poetic justice that only Tarantino could write.
All that?s left is Bill (David Carradine). When the Bride finally tracks him down, she discovers that her daughter is still alive and that Bill has been raising her all this time. In another flashback, we discover that Bride wanted to quit the business after finding out that she was pregnant. She disappears, and when Bill finally tracks her down, he finds her marrying a record store employee and automatically assumes that the groom is the father of the unborn baby. Jealous, Bill ?overreacts? and sends in his henchmen to kill everyone in the chapel. Ahhhh, it all makes sense now!
David Carradine delivers an amazing speech near the end of the film that rivals Samuel Jackson?s speech at the end of Pulp Fiction. Comic book fans will geek out at the Spider-man and Superman references, while screenwriters will geek out at rich metaphors. Following some more meaty verbal exchange, the Bride and Bill have their showdown, and she takes him out with a secret technique that Pai Mei taught her.
With her quest complete, the Bride claims her daughter, exits the world of assassins, and enters the world of motherhood.
8 out of 10