An outstanding conclusion!

Rating: 10/10 (11 January 2006)

Much of Kill Bill's success depended on how the story would end. It couldn't be too predictable, but not too bizarre either. Luckily, Tarantino came up with one of the most brilliant epilogues in film history. In fact, Kill Bill: Vol.2 could be his absolute masterpiece, alongside Pulp Fiction. It really is that good.
Following the events of Vol.1, The Bride (Uma Thurman) has three more people to kill: Budd (Michael Madsen), Elle Driver (Daryl Hannah) and, finally, the Man, Bill (David Carradine)! But since there are only three left, what are we gonna see during the rest of the film, the Crazy 88 having already been wiped out in the previous movie? That's what Tarantino aficionados are gonna love: the talky, ironic, totally quotable bits are back (the highlight? Bill revealing the "truth" about Superman's mythology, just like QT did with Like a Virgin in Reservoir Dogs). Some of the dialogue is reminiscent of Sergio Leone, and that's no coincidence: 75% of the movie is Tarantino's own version of the Spaghetti Western, with Ennio Morricone's music, a homage to the last scene of The Searchers (with Thurman replacing John Wayne) and the fact that most of the story takes place in Texas (we finally get to see the so-called Texas Wedding Chapel Massacre, which includes an intelligent cameo by Samuel L. Jackson). Okay, but what about the remaining 25%? That part (the middle section of the film) shows us how The Bride learned all the various killing techniques she masters, as we witness her brutal training with Pai Mei (Gordon Liu, who was Johnny Mo in Vol.1). It looks ugly, but it's one of the most interesting mentor/pupil relationships I've ever seen. If Tarantino had made Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, the Pai Mei chapter of Kill Bill: Vol.2 is probably what it would have looked like.
So, now the time has come to talk about what everyone expects to be the unmissable part of this film: the climactic Uma/Bill showdown. Well, without spoiling anything, it's a powerful, emotionally loaded confrontation, a tragic love story, the most touching ending Tarantino has ever filmed. And much of those scenes'beauty lies in the leading couple: Thurman is arguably even better than in Vol.1 (kind of a weird statement, given the two volumes were shot together and meant to be one single film), and Carradine's comeback was worth waiting for, similarly to John Travolta's return to form in Pulp Fiction. The only thing I don't understand is why the Academy ignored two excellent performances such as those we had the luck to see in this movie.
I don't think another director would have been able to achieve something this good. Kill Bill belongs to Quentin Tarantino, who has once again proved he can pick up an overused concept and turn it into a remarkable picture.