Supersedes Volume 1!

Rating: 10/10 (2 April 2005)

This has to be the movie I anticipated the most in my life. The ending of Volume 1 left me hanging not only for four months which was stated when the first installment was released, but for six months since the release of Vol. 2 was delayed two months due to problems on the cutting room floor. I won't lie, after the credits started to role I was a little disappointed. If I had not of been, Kill Bill Vol. 2 would be the best movie I would have seen, ever! Well, it wasn't but it definitely made my Top 100 list along with Vol. 1. The fact of the matter is Vol. 2 is not only better then Vol. 1, it's more involving. Unlike Vol. 1, Kill Bill Vol. 2 has less action and violence (which may turn off immature and blood thirsty viewers after the blood soaked Volume 1), but it explains the plot to it's full extent. In Volume 1 you didn't get a stable plot, you just got stylized acting and blood (not that is an insult), but in Volume 2 you get a little more closure.
The second installation in Quentin Tarantino's chop-sake meets wild west crime saga, The Bride continues her blood-hungry hunt for the three remaining members on her list. The first is Budd, Bill's brother played expertly by Michael Madsen (Species, Reservoir Dogs). He's a hard-drinking depressed cowboy-hat wearing fella, who works as a bouncer at a low-level tit bar. The second person on The Bride's list is someone she really hates and someone who really hates her -- Elle Driver, the foul-mouthed eye-patch wearing blonde-haired trouble maker who is now Bill's sweetie. Perhaps the best fight sequence of the film is the showdown between the Bride and Elle in a broken down trailer home involving a toilet, samurai swords and tobacco spit. The final person on The Bride's list is of course, Bill. You finally get to see Bill in full form in Volume 2, and he is played with such intensity and passion by David Carradine (who definitely gives the best performance of the entire movie.)
The acting in Volume 2 is a major improvement then the acting in Volume 1. Uma Thurman still gives a rock solid performance as the sexy blonde sword fighter on a mission, and the villains this time around are way better. Lucy Liu and Vivica A. Fox don't come close to the acting talents of Michael Madsen, Daryl Hannah and David Carradine. In this one, the villains are also more developed and you get a better grasp of the kinds of people they are. The directing is fabulous as usual, along with the writing, and the soundtrack is more alive in Vol. 2 then it was in Vol. 1.
In conclusion, Kill Bill Volume 2 wasn't as extraordinary as I had expected, but it is certainly another masterpiece from one of the greatest filmmakers of our generation, Quentin Tarantino. Grade: A (screened at Harkins Cine Capri at Scottsdale 101, Scottsdale, Arizona, 4/17/04)
MADE MY TOP 300 LIST AT #38: (The 2nd Best Film of 2004)