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 1 of 4

Kill Bill Vol. 2 Our rating: Your rating: 1 2 3 4 Your Comments: see all MPAA rating: R (for strong bloody violence, language and some sexual content) Theater release: April 16, 2004 by Miramax Films Directed by: Quentin Tarantino Runtime: 2 hours 7 minutes Cast: Uma Thurman (The Bride), David Carradine (Bill), Michael Madsen (Budd), Daryl Hannah (Elle Driver), Gordon Liu (Pai Mei), Michael Parks (Esteban Vihaio) Related: Talk About It/Family Corner

When we last left The Bride (Uma Thurman) in Kill Bill Vol. 1 (now on video and DVD), she had exacted bloody vengeance on two of her former assassin partners (not to mention a seemingly endless horde of Yakuza gang members) on her quest to take out her ex-boss/ex-lover, Bill (David Carradine). Think of this as Sergio Leone (The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly) directing a film with kung fu action about Charlie's Angels—except that they're not really the good guys, there are five of them, one of them is a man, and the protagonist wants to kill Charlie for destroying her life. Leave it to Quentin Tarantino to combine the exploitation B-movies of the '70s with spaghetti westerns, kung fu, and pop-culture ridden dialogue that plays like modern day Shakespeare.

Uma Thurman returns as The Bride

Kill Bill Vol. 2 picks up where Vol. 1 left off, beginning with that campy movie trailer of The Bride in a convertible, telling the audience that she will have her revenge. From there, the film delivers the final chapters of the story, beginning with a recount of The Bride's wedding day massacre—well, wedding rehearsal massacre anyway. We also see a flashback of her intense training in martial arts under the "cruel tutelage" of Kung Fu master Pai Mei (Gordon Liu). And oh yes, we see her confront the two remaining assassins (Michael Madsen and Daryl Hannah) before getting the chance to kill Bill.

How exactly does one go about reviewing a film like this for a Christian website? Some Christians will watch anything Hollywood has to offer, while others avoid movies and theaters like the plague. And there are plenty between those extremes. Suffice to say that if you're offended by bad language, by less-than-scrupulous characters, and/or by scenes of strong violence—regardless of whether it's hyper-realistic like The Passion or comic book-styled like The Matrix—this film is definitely not for you.

Bill (David Carradine) gets trigger-happy

Actually, the biggest surprise about Kill Bill Vol. 2 is that it's not the bloody orgy of violence that marked Vol. 1. Sure, it has its moments—one fight sequence ends in an especially grotesque manner, and you're not likely to find a more horrifying snake attack in film any time soon. But for the most part, the action is stylized kung fu, no worse than your average superhero movie or Lord of the Rings battle sequence. The aforementioned wedding rehearsal massacre isn't even shown on screen.

Stranger yet, Vol. 2 is a love story at heart, albeit love gone wrong. This is an unexpectedly talky film, and therein lies its charm. Director, writer, and producer Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs) is a master storyteller, and I wholeheartedly agree with critics who have noted that Tarantino absolutely loves his characters. Complex in motivation, vividly imagined, and richly versed, every one of them gives a worthy monologue to help flesh them out and remain unforgettable. The exchanges between Bill and The Bride are terrific, speaking volumes of a twisted romance that has since run its course with equal doses of sweetness, melancholy, and menace. There's an additional level of sweetness to the story as The Bride gradually uncovers the truth about her mysterious motherhood.

Daryl Hannah as Elle Driver

These monologues give the characters a level of depth rarely seen in films today. The extended sequences of dialogue demonstrate that even villains like Bill and Budd (Madsden) have their charm, making their evils all the more shocking and giving the film's action and deaths more resonance. I found myself hanging on Bill's every word as he retold the legend of Pai Mei to a younger Bride before sending her off to study with him; it wouldn't be at all surprising if David Carradine earns a Best Supporting Actor nomination. And the beard-twirling Pai Mei is likely to endure as one of the most beloved characters in recent cinematic history—chauvinistic, cranky, yet charming, he makes Master Yoda look like a sissy.

Every character is given a chance to shine, no matter how small the role—from the minister and his wife at the wedding chapel to Bill's suave surrogate father Esteban (played by Michael Parks like a Hispanic Jack Nicholson). And that's why Vol. 2 shines that much more than Vol. 1. It relies on the strength of its storytelling instead of extreme shock value, as the first largely did. Both movies do succeed (in different ways), adding up to a satisfying three-and-a-half hour experience. Those wishing to avoid the extreme violence and nastiness of the first film can still enjoy the second by itself, though you'll lose some character development in the process.

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