Kill Bill: Vol. 2

Kill Bill: Vol. 2 is the excellent conclusion to the saga of ‘The Bride’.

Kill Bill: Vol. 1 was an amazing film. Certainly, the bar was set extremely high for the second instalment. Perhaps only The Godfather: Part II had succeeded in surpassing such a challenge, maybe also Aliens depending on your viewpoint. We’ve recently witnessed The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers fail at just this. Does Kill Bill: Vol. 2 succeed? Not for me, sadly.

I wanted it to, I really did. I was ready to christen Q as the god of all things kung fu. The first film was extraordinary, but it also satisfied something in me that Vol. 2 did not. Maybe the new film is too subtle for my tastes? Not enough blood, perhaps?

Carradine is exceptional as Bill, the first time we actually see him in the series being a wonderful scene. (I won’t spoilerise it for you, as you really should be seeing this film for yourself!) Needless to say, his ‘entrance’ is wonderful, the flute is his own (a nice touch), and he is at the same time chilling and charming. His performance, with nuance and skill, belies his years in B- and C-grade rubbish. Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror?? For goodness sake!

Thurman continues her excellent work from Vol. 1 into Vol. 2. She really did change things for action heroines in Vol. 1 (see my review), and she retains that sense of novelty here. Although her stamina and survival are at times frankly unbelievable, (not many people, male or female, could take the full field of a shotgun blast in the chest and get up for more – even if it was filled with salt instead of shot) END SPOILERS she admirably maintains the illusion of injury. Her determination for nearly three and a half hours, and then the beauty, emotion and disbelief she displays when she finally meets her four year old daughter END SPOILERS show her range and ability.

Without giving away too much, the way The Bride deals with Elle Driver (Daryl Hannah) is superb. The poetic justice of it, as well as the brutality, really struck home to me. More than the deaths of the other members of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, this shows what The Bride has learnt and experienced, and the depth of her feeling. Wonderful.

The music didn’t strike me as forcefully as in Vol. 1, however the cinematography and editing are again superb. And while the outcome is predictable (as it has been way back since Vernita Green in Vol. 1), the fun is in the ride to get there.

This is an excellent film, although it suffers from comparisons with its first part, for me. I gave Vol. 1 9.5/10. This is good, but not that good.