Movie: Kill Bill: Volume 2

Actors: Uma Thurman, David Carradine. Darryl Hannah, Michael Madsen, Gordon Liu
Director: Quentin Tarantino, Producer:

Having reviewed Kill Bill: Volume 1 already for Chowk, it is my pleasure to be able to write a review of Kill Bill:volume 2 after having been thrilled for 2 hours earlier this evening.

This film is not a sequel at all but a continuation of the story from where Volume 1 left off. In this film, Uma--now without her Bruce Lee-esque track suit--continues on her quest to track down Bill (David Carradine) who tried to have her killed on her wedding rehearsal. The film is less energetic than Volume 1 but just as exciting and gripping. In this film the movie genres which QT pays homage to are Chinese kung-fu films, and Sergio Leone westerns as opposed to Japanese samurai films of Volume 1. As usual there are stunning sequences and great dialogue. The fight scenes in this film are more restrained and realistic than in the previous movie but definitely more brutal too. The denouement of the battle between Darryl Hannah (Elle Driver) and The Bride (Uma) is something I have not seen in any film to date. Eye-poppingly good and gooey! Not for the squeemish.

Also I would not recommend claustrophobics to go and see this movie as there is a scene in here which is extremely disturbing. The acting is brilliant by all--especially Uma and Carradine--(who is in most of this movie) and the dialogue witty. Many of the scenes are also humorous in a dark way. The film`s score and cinematography are also superb. In all this is as good as Volume 1 if not better and taken together this movie--(and it IS really a single movie) is one of the greatest and most innovative and exciting cinematic milestones of recent times.

I cannot review Kill Bill: Volume 2 without mentioning the best chapter, for me, in the whole long movie (1 and 2 combined)--the delightfully entitled, 'Chapter 8: The Cruel Tutelage of Master Pei Mei' during which Uma goes to a legendary Chinese martial arts` master to be trained. It is both a homage to and a satire of those countless Chinese kung-fu films in which the Hero is trained. Simply brilliant is all I can say, especially the subtitled Mandarin. This sequence is a jewel in this glittering crown of a movie. Kill Bill establishes Quentin Tarantino as the best and most exciting director in the world. A masterwork. Go and see it!