Kill Bill: Volume 2

Review by: Zak Santucci
ZakSantucci@TheCinemaSource.com

I just realized Kill Bill: Volume 2 is one of my favorite movies. I saw it in the theatres and made a vow then and there to not buy the DVDs until they came out with a special double-disk edition with both volumes. After I was given the assignment of reviewing Volume 2 I stuck it in my DVD player and remembered how amazing the movie is and wondered whether I’d be able to wait that long to buy them together. We all know the story, Uma Thurman plays The Bride, she’s nearly killed by her ex-boss and lover and when she awakes from the coma he put her in she starts a bloodbath of revenge against all who had a hand in her death. This is part two and with three more names on her list, she goes after Budd right away (Michael Madsen (who in my opinion just gets cooler and cooler every day)). There’s also Daryl Hannah playing Elle and the illustrious Bill played by David Carradine.

If there’s anything I can say about this movie, it is that David Carradine gives a terrific performance. Not only Oscar-worthy, but Go-Down-In-History-worthy. The reason he’s able to give such a performance is because Quentin Tarantino provides a remarkable script, but more importantly there’s an innate mythology behind these characters. There is an abundance of history behind each relationship and the intense complexity of these emotions are intricately woven throughout the plot. The evil, loveable, funny, insane, and rational aspects of Bill come across so strongly through Carradine’s performance that you forget you are watching a movie. Of course this praise is not meant to discredit Uma Thurman’s acting. It’s almost shocking to see how successfully she plays a bloodthirsty killer hell-bent on revenge and a normal woman with feelings and pain at the same time. The juxtaposition is done so intelligently that she’s a consistent character throughout instead of the audience wondering how she can step on somebody’s eyeball in one scene and cry from happiness in another. Plus in the flashbacks she’s almost a completely different person altogether. As a young, impressionable girl who you can tell is completely enthralled by Bill’s greatness, she is just as believable. Perla Haney-Jardine who plays her daughter is great, Daryl Hannah is great, and Michael Madsen is of course great. That is what makes this movie, the ability of every single actor, from the most major role to the smallest, to fill their character as roundly as possible. The homages are done well, the music is terrific, and the overall flow of the movie is incredibly smooth.

Too often I heard criticisms that there is too much talking and not enough action, but after the body count of the first one that is barely feasible to say. There is so ...