Kill Bill: Vol. 2

Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004)

Directed By Quentin Tarantino

Starring: Uma Thurman, David Carradine, Michael Madsen, Daryl Hannah

The Bride is back, and she’s still pretty angry. This 2004 film was the second piece to the Kill Bill saga started in 2003 with volume 1. This films keeps the story going with the angry Uma Thurman at the center of the action. She’s joined by David Carradine, Michael Madsen, and Daryl Hannah as well as many of the stars from volume 1. Quentin Tarantino is once again behind the camera as director in this tribute to bloody action films.

When volume 1 left off, The Bride (Thurman) was still angry, although angry with a few less people to kill. Now she’s after the remaining members of the The Deadly Viper Assassination Squad. This means she’ll need to defeat Budd (Madsen), Elle (Hannah), and finally Bill (Carradine). As she pursues her targets she’ll run into some tricky situations that force her to look back on her training with the martial arts master Pai Mei. She’ll also be forced to look back on her relationship with Bill and the bloody end it came to in Texas. Ultimately she’s after one thing, the chance to kill Bill.

If you’re going to follow-up a bloody revenge film it better be with another violent, although somewhat less bloody revenge film. Tarantino finishes his story with a great-paced action film that is consistently going over the top. Most of the movie left me saying “yeah right” over an over. This didn’t make it less enjoyable, just a product of watching most Tarantino films. Thankfully the movie has a strong emotional story and great visuals throughout the film.

The acting is also great in the movie. The characters are all given strength and weaknesses that make them almost likeable. Madsen and Hannah both nicely in their roles as the surviving members of the squad. David Carradine gives an excellent performance as the one and only Bill. He’s the highlight of this movie for me. Thurman was asked to do much more in the first movie, this time it was Carradine carrying the story with his great delivery of the unique dialogue.

The movie is visually great, with unique camera angles and beautiful shot composition. The action scenes are filmed nicely and are well-choreographed. It all seems to work once again for Tarantino.

The music was a bit of a letdown for me this time around. The first film had some seriously nice song choices to go along with the violence and the calmer scenes. This time the music didn’t really have a home in the film, making it seem a bit cheap. It doesn’t make the movie less fun to watch, just an observation from watching both of these great movies.

If you liked the first movie I don’t see why you wouldn’t like this one. The story is strangely powerful and has more behind it than just revenge. I would suggest this movie for fans of violent cinema and Tarantino fans. (As though they’re different groups.) I give this movie 4.4 out of 5 stars.

Rating: R

Running Time: 136 minutes