The Moose Hole - Review of Kill Bill (Volume II)

Rating: 9/10 (27 April 2004)

`Revenge is a dish best served cold.'
When we last left off, Quentin Tarantino has re-emerged onto the Hollywood scene for the first time in six years with not just one but two films to be released into theaters to an overwhelmingly awaiting cult audience. But not everyone was especially happy with the decision of both Tarantino and his distributor, Miramax Pictures, to split the tale of The Bride in two. There were some in the vast assortment of captious movie-goers that took this as a sign of continued greed amongst the `Hollywood elite' in that the decision of splitting the film into two parts was done to get the loyal fans to shell-out double the normal ticket price for essentially one film. Granted, in the end, that turned out not to be the case, as the film would actually be five hours in length and thus be deemed too long to be taken all at once, but the issue still remained whether the rest of Hollywood would follow in the foot-steps of Kill Bill and spark a brand new trend, only this time with less honorable then Tarantino did. That is still to be seen and perhaps that argument is a bit overzealous . In this situation, one shouldn't question what could happen in the future but whether or not the primary influence, namely Kill Bill, did what it claimed it would accomplish, by delivering movie-goers ultimate satisfaction for dollar.
Kill Bill (Volume II) is the second, and possibly final, installment of the story that centers on a former member of a group of assassins who seeks revenge for the actions done on to her by her former colleagues. For those unfamiliar with the first installment, here is a slight recap of previous events:
A woman known only as The Bride has waken up from a four year comma after her former boss Bill left her for dead on the day of her wedding killing her fiancé, the wedding party and her unborn child. Unfortunately for the skilled assassin, he made one big mistake: he failed to kill her. Now that she has awakened from her living slumber, The Bride will travel the world picking off her attempted killers one by one including the mysterious Bill. First up on her list is O-Ren Ishi, aka Cottonmouth, and her group of Japanese underground assassins and then Vernita Green, aka Copperhead. Upon completing the task of killing her first two targets, The Bride continues on her rampage determined to kill everyone on her list, all the way to Bill.
The second installment picks up basically where the first one left off, leaving The Bride heading to her next target, Budd (aka Sidewinder), who happens to be the run-down and vastly inferior brother of Bill himself. But, for at least a few moments, Budd gets the upper-hand on the film's lead assassin by placing her in a coffin and burring her alive. In the time it takes her to escape, the audience is informed on the vast training The Bride took in order to become the superior apache she is today. Upon escaping the make-shift grave, The Bride duels with her contemporary rival, Elle Driver (aka California Mountain Snake), who not only killed Pai Mai but has her eyes set on The Bride herself. The final lag of her journey brings her to the home of Bill himself and along with him comes a little surprise: her daughter. The story for Kill Bill (Volume II) is quite arguably vastly superior to the one written up for the first installment in that this one deals not so much with action but dialogue and meanings discovered behind actions made by characters throughout this film as well as the previous installment. Once again Tarantino demonstrates his remarkable filmmaking skills by back-tracking the story at precise moments that by doing so will explain actions yet to come. Few writers can pull such an effect successful and Tarantino does so brilliantly.
As was said with the previous installment, a relative bunch of low-profile actors and actresses make up one of the better casts of the year for this film, but this time around we introduced to a slightly different lot from the last film. Michael Madsen gives a dead-on (no pun intended) performance as Budd, a run-down and subjacent version of his former self now that he is no longer in the hit-man business. Madsen gives a sense that the character really contemplates on what he has done and whether or not he feels remorse for those actions but at the same time showcases the scoundrel that still lives within him. Daryl Hannah is quite intriguing as Elle Driver, clearly the most ruthless and baneful character in the film series. The only problem with her role was the dreadfully over-the-top performance given when her character's eye was plucked out. Granted having one's eye plucked out isn't a pleasant manner but what Hannah presented on screen was unconvincing and quite annoying after some time. Uma Thurman's role in the second installment can't be complimented more then her role in the first . She gives an absolutely brilliant, witty, and exhilarating performance that works every moment she is on screen. And David Carradine, best known for his Kung Fu television series, gives a `sweet', vibrant, and utterly perfect performance as the title character, Bill. He shines in every scenes he is presented in and works exceedingly well with Uma Thurman . There isn't much to say other then `Bravo'!
Overall, Kill Bill plays out much like the concept of revenge itself - actions and instincts engulf us at first, but as time goes on and the journey rampages toward its ultimate conclusion, truth and meaning quickly take over. Where Tarantino starts off with a bang, he rightfully finishes off with a shock to our system - maturity and philosophical contemplation on the subject of revenge and what it means for those involved. Those who were truly engulfed by the blood and gut spilling actions of the first film will be greatly disappointed by the second installment unless you are one of those geeks who enjoy dialogue far more then comical violence, which may not be too many. But if there is even just a few then that will demonstrate the true essence of maturity amongst the movie-going public. Despite a pacing that made the feature feel a tad longer then was probably necessary, Kill Bill (Volume II) serves as a fitting conclusion to Quentin Tarantino's near perfect masterpiece . a masterpiece that may take quite some time to surpass but if the young filmmaker keeps putting out work like his previous films, his cult audience is more then willing to wait.