“Kill Bill” is one-two combination for the ages

Kill Bill Vol. 2 (2004)
Miramax presents a film by Quentin Tarantino, starring Uma Thurman and David Carradine. Written by Tarantino and Thurman. Running time: 137 mins. Rated R for violence, language and brief drug use.

4.5 stars

Like most of Quentin Tarantino’s works, the “Kill Bill” volumes will be heavily debated for either reflecting the 41-year-old filmmaker’s penchant for genius or as self-aggrandizing pieces of cinematic trash, full of obscure cultural references only major geeks could appreciate.

I’ve always stood on the former side, hailing his 1994 effort, “Pulp Fiction,” as probably the most important film of the last ten years. I’ve always been drawn to Tarantino because he’s a film enthusiast at heart - a snippet of a soundtracks from spaghetti western here, a casting of a kung fu icon there. His love for the movies often translates into writing, creating and directing great movies himself.

“Kill Bill: Vol. 2” is an accomplishment much like “Pulp Fiction” - it borrows from the past while telling an engrossing original story. And “Volume 2” has decidedly changed tone from its first installment, which appeared in theaters last October. Perhaps the greatest compliment that can be paid to this piece is that is made “Volume 1” (3.5 stars) an even better movie.

“Volume 2” humanizes its protagonist, Beatrix (Uma Thurman), and makes her more than a blood-thirsty assassin hell-bent on fulfilling some violent revenge fantasy cooked up while she lay dormant. If “Volume 1” is a spare dialogue piece enamored with the spillage of crimson blood, consider “Volume 2” to be its perfect corollary: laden with dialogue and with the body count decidedly muted.

Haughty critics who have lambasted Tarantino for making “Volume 2” a twisted love story after the extreme violence of “Volume 1” are forgetting one essential point: He envisioned the piece not as two parts, but as one four-hour epic.

Beatrix (aka The Bride) - after tearing through two fellow members of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad (DiVAS) in “Volume 1” - is out to cross off three more names from the list of people who shot her and left her for dead on her wedding day.

But my expectations were shattered when The Bride doesn’t just mow down her opposition like she did in “Volume 1.” Instead, things have become decidedly more tricky. While O-Ren Ishii and her gang of Crazy 88s were formidable opponents, I dropped such expectations for Budd (Michael Madsen), a former assassin who dropped his occupation for a fifth of Jack Daniels and a role as bouncer at a dive that doubles as a strip club.

Yet, it’s Budd (aka Sidewinder) who catches The Bride with her guard almost completely down, in a turn of events Tarantino undoubtedly cooked up with more than a fair share of geeky glee. Besides our protagonist’s confinement to a coffin being an execrable turn of events, it’s also a good opportunity for Tarantino to do what he does best. He interrupts the chronology to provide a proper backstory, involving The Bride’s training at the temple of Pai Mei (Gordon Liu).

Pai Mei is an appropriation, I’m told, from several Shaw Brothers Kung Fu films of the 1970s. And he’s a parody, I’m certain, of the now-stereotypical crazy martial arts teacher who always has one annoying idiosyncrasy (Pai Mei’s habit is his continual stroking of a long white beard only Leon Russell could appreciate).

As director, Tarantino has fun with this chapter in the “Kill Bill” book, employing the quick zooms, bleached aesthetics and staccato cutting normally associated with schmaltzy kung fu. Some critics find these self-aware techniques either distracting or pretentious. Laughing out loud, I couldn’t help but embrace my apparent love for the high cheese.

Pai Mei’s training is instrumental in the Hanzo sword showdown with Elle Driver (Daryl Hannah) and in the eventual face-to-face with the master himself, Bill (David Carradine).

For Tarantino - who has been promoting the “Kill Bill” series as a love story - the payoff comes with The Bride’s confrontation with Bill. What seems to be a dilemma is no more than a Hobson’s choice, predetermined by the series’ title. She’s there to “kill Bill.” The movie can’t end until she “kill[s] Bill.” How she does it and why she does it - aye, there’s the rub.

While some will be rankled by the idea of their butt-kicking assassin chick evolving into a matronly figure, the conclusion of “Kill Bill: Volume 2” seemed to me to be the perfect progression for the two-parter. It enticed me to re-watch “Volume 1,” where the seeds are planted not only for the ultimate climax in a revenge fantasy, but in the reemerging foundations of that indestructible mother-daughter bond.

“Kill Bill: Vol. 1” is now available on DVD everywhere.