Sequel to 'Kill Bill' a cut above original

By Jack Garner
Gannett News Service

KILL BILL Vol. 2 (R) Four Stars (Excellent) The Bride is back and at the top of her game. And so is writer-director Quentin Tarantino. "Vol. 2" is even better than "Vol. 1," and equal to the best work Tarantino has ever done. Uma Thurman and David Carradine are fabulous in the lead roles. Miramax, 127 minutes.

"Kill Bill Vol. 2" is even better than "Vol. 1," and equal to the best work Tarantino has ever done. "Vol. 1" had stunning, balletic action, but little of the quirky dialogue that Tarantino fans love to memorize. In "Vol. 2," thank goodness, the surviving characters are talkers.

"Kill Bill Vol. 2" concludes the saga of the Bride (Uma Thurman), a skilled ex-member of a professional hit squad. After going straight and planning a wedding, the pregnant bride was left for dead when her entire bridal party was slaughtered at the wedding rehearsal.

After four years in a coma, she went on a rampage in "Vol. 1," killing two of the folks responsible (along with scores of associates and underlings). In the second half of the film, she relentlessly pursues two more of the assassins (Michael Madsen and Daryl Hannah), all building to the confrontation with Bill (David Carradine) — her former boss and lover who ordered the slaughter. Now that the entire span of "Kill Bill" can be seen, Tarantino's purpose and considerable accomplishment is more obvious than ever.

The films form a magnificent two-part ode to the grind-house exploitation flicks that have long owned his heart. Echoes abound of Asian martial arts, violent bloodbath sagas, iconic Westerns and film noirs. "Kill Bill" also bridges the movies and pop cultures of the East (particularly in "Vol. 1") and the West (particularly in "Vol. 2").

But here's Tarantino's neat trick: He takes all those elements, throws them into the blender that is his peculiar artistic sensibility, and out splashes a film that's far better than nearly everything he's honoring.

For openers, such films rarely generate performances with enough subtlety, depth and emotion to deserve Oscar nominations. But I'll go on record before this year's half over and suggest both Thurman and Carradine for such consideration.

In the first film, Thurman made us believe she was a warrior of unprecedented skill and swagger. That alone is significant. In "Vol. 2," that element remains, but now we also detect a deeply yearning heart and a powerful maternal instinct. Carradine, meanwhile, is quietly charismatic. As Bill, he is both fascinating and frightening. You'll be amazed by how much you like the guy, even though he'd slice your head off without thinking twice.

The second "Kill Bill" is a romance, a love story only Tarantino could devise. Not since Gregory Peck and Jennifer Jones fought to the death in "Duel in the Sun," have a man and woman expressed love and hatred in such volatile equal measure.

"Kill Bill Vol. 2" is both action-packed and character-driven, and filled with the filmmaker's one-of-a-kind serio-comic outlook on life. And, as we've come to expect from Tarantino, the film technique is also astonishing. He uses anything he needs to best tell his story — flashbacks, split screens, black and white, color, new rock 'n' roll, old rockabilly, samples from the music scores of spaghetti westerns, odd camera angles, sight gags and old film references.

In other words, "Kill Bill Vol. 2" offers a smorgasbord of film references and styles, with elements that'll appeal in equal measure to the most knowledgeable film buff and to the 18-year-old movie novice who foolishly thinks any movie made before 1998 isn't worth his time.

Yes, "Kill Bill Vol. 2" is violent — violence is an important visceral texture in Tarantino's films. Yet the violence is so theatrical, so operatic and, sometimes, so funny, it just doesn't offend.

All told, "Kill Bill Vol. 2" is a rousing good time at the movies, the best time we've had so far this year.

Rated R, with ultra violence and profanity.