Vol. 2 picks up almost exactly where Vol. 1 left off. The Bride (Uma Thurman), having killed O-Ren Ishii and Vernita Greene has only three more people to take revenge on. They are Bill's younger brother Budd (Michael Madsen), his latest flame Elle (Daryl Hannah) and Bill himself (David Carradine).
Like I said in my review for Vol. 1, Quentin Tarantino is a master at genres. This film is more spaghetti western than kung fu but there is nothing wrong with that. Tarantino's dialogue has never been better than in the final act of the film. The last twenty minutes or so feature some of the best read/written dialogue I've seen in a film. David Carradine has a fifteen minute monologue where he explains his position and why he did what he did to The Bride. Instead of simply saying, "You made me feel bad" he goes into rather fluid analogy connecting Superman to the life of an assassin.
We don't get an extended fight between the Bride and Bill like we did with O-Ren in the first film. Frankly I didn't need it. His death in the film (I'm not responsible for that spoiler since it's in the title) is handled tragically and is incredibly sad which one would not expect given the build-up to the last twenty minutes. David Carradine showcases some great character work in this film and I would have loved it if he recieved an Oscar nomination (Golden Globes suck) for his work.
Now I feel I must explain the reason for not giving the film four stars like I did with Kill Bill: Vol 1. Admittedly it's because I just liked the first more. Not because this one isn't as good but since I know I enjoyed the first more I cannot in good conscience give them both the same rating. I'm almost half-tempted to use three stars and three quarters of a star for it but alas I fear change.
★★★1/2
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