Kill Bill: Volume 2 picks up right where
Volume 1 left off, following O-Ren's (Lucy Liu) brutal assassination. From here, Beatrix Kiddo (Uma Thurman) continues her reign of terror, searching out and destroying the remaining members of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad. First on Kiddo's death list is Budd (Michael Madsen), Bill's brother. But Budd was warned by Bill that she was coming, so he was waiting for her. After burying her alive in an old grave, Budd meets with Elle Driver (Darryl Hannah), who has since become Bill's lover subsequent to Beatrix's departure. Elle wants to purchase Budd's priceless Hanzo sword. But she has a trick waiting for him in the bag of $1 million dollars - a deadly black mamba snake! Budd quickly meets his demise, but in the meantime, Beatrix escapes from her deadly grave, only to attack Elle and presumably kill her. We don't actually see Elle die, but since she is left alone in a trailer with a black mamba, completely sightless, it is assumed. Beatrix's escape from the grave comes right after we learn of how she trained with Pai Mei (Gordon Liu), the crazy, beard-stroking master who also trained Elle Driver and plucked out her eye for her insolence. We learn how Beatrix grew strong through Pai Mei's abuse and it is this drive that helps her escape the coffin. Good stuff indeed, if a bit improbable.
We also get a good bit of backstory as to why Beatrix ran in the first place, the circumstances surrounding her untimely pregnancy and how she discovers it, and why the group turned on her so viciously. Her rage and desire for revenge was perfectly understandable, although the group's attack on her to begin with seemed a bit extreme. Especially fun is the scene where she is on what is to become her final assassination mission and does a pregnancy test, only to engage in a shootout with the blue strip playing a major role. Funny stuff.
Once the other members of the group are dispatched, Kiddo locates Bill, who has a shocking surprise for her. Their mental and physical fight to the death and Beatrix's subsequent "happy" ending is a nice wrap-up to a brutal but amazing story. Kill Bill: Volume 2 is a bit longer than Volume 1, but seems to have more development than the non-stop action of the first volume, although there's no lack of action here. There's another making-of featurette, plus a long deleted scene, which was interesting, and also an added musical performance. If you haven't seen Kill Bill in a while, check them both out on Blu-ray. They are stunning.
