Kill Bill Vol.2 (2004) Movie Information:

Kill Bill Vol.2 (2004) Directed by: Quentin Tarantino Kill Bill Vol.2 (2004) Written by: Quentin Tarantino Kill Bill Vol.2 (2004) Cast: Uma Thurman, David Carradine, Michael Madsen, Sonny Chiba, Vivica A. Fox, Daryl Hannah, Lucy Liu, LaTanya Richardson, Michael Jai White, Woo-ping Yuen, Samuel L. Jackson

Kill Bill Vol.2 (2004) U.S. Distributor: Miramax Kill Bill Vol.2 (2004) U.K. Distributor: Buena Vista

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Kill Bill Vol.2 (2004) Synopsis:

After dispensing with former colleagues O-Ren Ishii and Vernita Green in Kill Bill Vol. 1, the Bride (Thurman) resumes her quest for justice in the series' second installment. With those two down, the Bride has two remaining foes on her 'Death List' to pursue - Budd (Madsen) and Elle Driver (Hannah) - before moving on to her ultimate goal... to kill Bill (Carradine).

Kill Bill Vol.2 (2004) Movie Review:

Dispatching Vernita Green AKA Copperhead and O-Ren Ishii AKA Cottonmouth in a roaring rampage of revenge; The Bride (Thurman) has two more names on her Death List to contend with, Budd AKA Sidewinder (Madsen) and Elle Driver AKA California Mountain Snake (Hannah). Once these two are dead she can go on and pursue her ultimate goal, to kill Bill (Carradine).

The Bride’s tale of revenge concludes as Quentin Tarantino brings us the second volume of his homage to everything he loves about cinema and boy is it good.

After the frenetic pace of the first film, Tarantino slows it down and re-introduces his trademark superb dialogue. Gone is the blood bath to be replaced by character driven moments and back-story. We find out what happened at the wedding and are introduced to the remaining members of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, including its illustrious leader Bill.

If volume one was Tarantino’s nod to Japanese martial arts cinema then this instalment pays homage to the spaghetti western and the Hong Kong kung-fu movie. Budd and Elle’s chapters are all western, rapped in extended, gritty dialogue with betrayal, greed and a face-off thrown in for good measure. Then we have The Bride’s training with Master Pai Mei, which is old school, 1970s Hong Kong kung-fu movie. Tarantino captures this brilliantly with extremely quick zooms into the face for a reaction shot and the outrageously funny dialogue between the master and apprentice. Then we come to the final showdown, which is vintage Tarantino. This is all about dialogue and the meeting of two great warriors. Throw in some revelation, followed by joy, followed by anger and you concoct an ending that is both riveting and completely satisfying.

The fantastic script is brought to life by the astounding cast. After proving that she can handle the action, Uma Thurman reminds us that it was her acting prowess that brought her to Tarantino’s attention in the first place. Dealing out revenge in this volume asks even more of the actress but this time it is more emotional than sheer skill and force. This is a career-defining role for Thurman and should push her back into the superstar league. Quentin Tarantino has a habit of resurrecting careers and he does it again for David Carradine. This is a man who was a superstar in the 70s after starring in the hit TV show “Kung-Fu” but his career has been in permanent stall ever since then but as Bill he electrifies the screen every time he graces it. This role should rejuvenate his box office potential and remind filmmakers of his talent.

Michael Madsen and Daryl Hannah are superb as Budd and Elle. Madsen plays Budd as the broken man but just like a wounded animal he is at his most dangerous when he is fighting for his life. Hannah is another actress to benefit from the Tarantino career resurrection magic with a captivatingly evil performance. Elle Driver is one vicious bitch that could so easily become a screen icon in the echelons of screen villainy.

It is Gordon Liu as Master Pai Mei who steals the show however. An amalgamation of every Kung-fu master to ever hit the sliver screen with a sprinkling of Yoda, his performance brings some much-needed comic relief to the film. The training sequence is brilliant but is made all the more enjoyable by Liu’s presence. He makes you want to grow a really long beard.

Volume 2 is just as good, if not better than the first and proves again that Quentin Tarantino is a cinematic genius. In these two movies he has created a masterpiece of modern cinema that pays homage to the films that drew him into the business in the first place. Kill is Love.

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Kill Bill Vol.2 (2004) review written by: Jamie Kelwick