Killing us softly with his song

Rating: 8/10 (15 June 2008)

SPOILERS (only for those who have not seen Vol. 1)
At the time of its theatrical release, "Kill Bill, Vol. 2" was something I probably wouldn't have bothered to see (due to my own dim appraisal of the previous installment), if it hadn't been for two friends who persuaded me otherwise on a lazy Sunday afternoon. I was actually impressed with how much I liked the concluding part, and now that I've viewed both films twice, Vol. 2 feels that much stronger.
To recap: The Bride (a convincingly bad-ass Uma Thurman), the sole survivor of a wedding-chapel massacre carried out by the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad (led by David Carradine's Bill), awakens from a four-year coma to find her unborn child gone (assumed miscarried), and vows vengeance on those responsible for the massacre (should I mention that The Bride was formerly Bill's top assassin?). She has successfully slain Vernita Green aka "Copperhead" (Vivica A. Fox) and O-Ren Ishii aka "Cottonmouth" (Lucy Liu)along with dozens of henchmenby the time we meet up with her in Vol. 2.
What I still find most admirable about this closing installment is (again) how Tarantino subverts audience expectations. Vol. 1 met its peak in a complicated, visually spellbinding scene where The Bride takes on The Crazy 88s (a gang consisting of dozens of black-masked assassins) in a multi-level Japanese restaurant. One would expect the denouement of Vol. 2 to consist of many scenes as potent and intense, right? Well, that "literary quality" I praised in my review of Vol. 1 comes on even stronger in the last half, allowing dialog and backstory to fill in plot-gaps and further develop the trio of central baddiesBudd (Michael Madsen), Elle Driver (Daryl Hannah), and Bill (David Carradine)who were little more than ciphers before.
Tarantino develops an intimacy among this quartet, consisting of double-crosses, broken bonds, and revealed secrets that strengthens the story as a whole. And it surprised me how Tarantino's development sheds the skin of homage and irony that punctuated Vol. 1, venturing into territory that carries a genuine emotional impact without downplaying the cost of human life. Death's sting is very much felt here, and you may be blind-sided at how moving it is. And the film's most understated gagthat Bill is really just a jilted lover acting out of extreme jealousycarries an unexpected honesty that enriches the layers of his character.
Don't get the wrong ideathere is still a formidable amount of impressive action on display, including a brutal flashback wherein The Bride is trained under the "cruel tutelage" of a martial-arts existentialist by the name of Pai Mei, and an incredible sequence where The Bride and Elle have a showdown inside the narrow walls of a trailerbut Tarantino seems more interested in tying all the threads of plot up into a satisfying package, at which he is pretty damn successful. The long-mooted "showdown" between The Bride and Bill is drawn-out and surprising, though the final result (baldly announced in the film's title) carries an effect contrary to what most will expect.
Both movies combined, "Kill Bill" is a superior entertainmentquite possibly the best cinematic offering Tarantino has given us to date.