Kill Bill: Vol.2 [MA]

At the beginning of her story, The Bride awoke from a coma to discover that her would-be husband had been killed, her wedding rehearsal massacred, herself shot in the head, and her baby taken from her pregnant body; all the work of her boss, Bill. After waking up four years later, The Bride set out on a murderous revenge-fuelled rampage, taking out the people responsible for her pain one by one. There are only a handful left now and the end is in her sights, as well as her final confrontation with Bill.

It was hard-pressed to follow the awesome extremity of the first one, but Kill Bill: Vol.2 stands up and takes its place shoulder to shoulder with its predecessor. Admittedly the film is not as violent or indulgent in its martial arts vice, but this hole that was superbly filled in the first movie, is refilled in the second one with more subtle comedy and even a bit of macabre and twisted romance.

At the beginning of her story, The Bride awoke from a coma to discover that her would-be husband had been killed, her wedding rehearsal massacred, herself shot in the head, and her baby taken from her pregnant body; all the work of her boss, Bill. After waking up four years later, The Bride set out on a murderous revenge-fuelled rampage, taking out the people responsible for her pain one by one. There are only a handful left now and the end is in her sights, as well as her final confrontation with Bill.

I think that after Kill Bill: Vol.1, there was no way that a sequel could be made that would outshine, outdo, and generally put the original to shadow. But Quentin Tarantino, now officially a genius in my Book of Cinema, rather than attempting to achieve the power of the first one through the same tricks and techniques, walks down a completely different path in terms of writing. A major chunk of the samurai fighting and martial arts battle sequences, which were so absolutely mind blowing in the first one, has been taken out of this film and replaced with subtle comedy, character bonding, emotional drama, and even romance. Tarantino displays some of his very classic and cunning comedic style by having a beautiful and closure-like scene right before violence, bloodshed, and a climactic battle. I don’t want to give too much away, but seriously get down to your local Blockbuster and grab a copy because the writing is another Tarantino success!
Again, sporadically going from black and white to colour, Kill Bill: Vol.2 is more of a back-story movie rather than the revenge mission that the first one was. The film begins with the massacre at the wedding, and then throughout the duration there is a lot of showing of the history of The Bride, which unclouds some of the mystery surrounding her as well as prepares the audience and keeps them informed as to what’s happening in current events; what awesome tricks are going to be used and the like. I enjoyed that quite a bit actually.
Starring Uma Thurman, Chia Hui Liu, Michael Madsen, Daryl Hannah, Michael Parks, Christopher Allen Nelson, and David Carradine, Kill Bill: Vol.2 is a fantastic movie packed with action, violence, bloodshed, drama, comedy, and even romance. It’s not as mind blowing as the first one, but it walks down a very different path and I think that it stands shoulder to shoulder.