Do duologies get any better than Kill Bill? Taken together, Kill Bill: Vol. 1 and Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (released in 2003 and 2004 respectively), both complement each other so well while also being very different. Vol. 1 has a good deal of action and a debatable style-over-substance approach that actually works, while Vol. 2 strips the action back a little and focuses more on characters, particularly when it comes to a couple of key backstories.
Kill Bill is a revenge epic, and the action, style, set pieces, and soundtrack choices might stand out the most at first, but the characters here are stronger and more memorable than some might give them credit for (even the ones who are mostly just in Vol. 1). The best characters are ranked below, starting with some interesting supporting ones and ending with a no-brainer of a pick (it is what it is).
Kill Bill
- Release Date
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October 10, 2003
- Runtime
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111 minutes
10
Sofie Fatale
Played by Julie Dreyfus
A fairly minor character in the overall scheme of things, Sofie Fatale does still make enough of an impression in Kill Bill: Vol. 1 to be worthy of consideration here. She’s associated with the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, and was present at the massacre which kicked off The Bride’s quest for revenge. Her lack of direct participation befits her eventual fate. She’s not killed, but she is paid to pay by The Bride in other (grisly) ways.
She’s also closely associated with O-Ren Ishii, whose scenes are generally among Vol. 1’s best (so more on her in a bit). Also, Sofie Fatale plays a role in the very last scene of Kill Bill: Vol. 1 that makes her a little more memorable, considering the cliffhanger of sorts that’s dropped regarding The Bride’s daughter still being alive.
9
Gogo Yubari
Played by Chiaki Kuriyama
Speaking of all the O-Ren Ishii stuff in Vol. 1, the best character associated with The Bride’s first target (chronologically speaking) is Gogo Yubari. She’s a bodyguard of O-Ren’s who puts up a remarkably strong fight against The Bride, being arguably her most prominent solo opponent who themselves isn’t a member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad.
She’s cold, ruthless, and has a memorable appearance, being a sociopathic schoolgirl who uses a distinctive weapon known as a meteor hammer. Gogo doesn’t have a ton of screen time, but she doesn’t need much to leave an impression, and she’s the best antagonist in the duology who’s not on The Bride’s kill list. She shows that sometimes, all you need is a distinctive look, a deadness behind the eyes, and a novel weapon to stand out in an action-packed extravaganza of a movie.
8
Vernita Green
Played by Vivica A. Fox
Of all the five members of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, it’s Vernita Green who gets the short end of the stick screen time-wise, which is a bit of a shame. Vivica A. Fox gets one big scene here at the very start of Kill Bill: Vol. 1, and then Vernita Green is shown in brief flashbacks at a few points afterward, really just to drive home that she played a part in the church massacre that ruined The Bride’s chance at a new life.
Still, it is one hell of a scene. It’s the first big set piece of the duology, with a tense conversation between The Bride and Vernita giving way to an impressive one-on-one fight, which is stopped again when Vernita’s daughter suddenly arrives home from school. Speaking of her daughter, that’s arguably one thread that could be picked up if Kill Bill: Vol. 3 ever came to fruition (not that it needs to… that’s just an observation people have made).
7
Budd
Played by Michael Madsen
The only one of The Bride’s targets who’s not taken down by The Bride herself, Budd is the brother of Bill, and he appears very little in Vol. 1 before emerging as a key character in Vol. 2. He’s defined by being a burnout and a bit of a loser, and someone else who’s made an attempt at leaving his past life behind him, like The Bride.
But, his loyalty remains with his brother, and he ends up choosing to bury her alive, which is undoubtedly horrific and in turn makes it hard to feel too sorry for the guy when he ends up falling victim to death by snake. His scenes sometimes slow Vol. 2 down perhaps a little too much, but he’s nonetheless an interesting target for The Bride to track down and kill, given how differently he approaches defending himself from her, and the similarities he has with The Bride regarding both wanting to escape their pasts, in some way or another.
6
Elle Driver
Played by Daryl Hannah
Vernita Green and O-Ren Ishii are pretty much entirely contained to Vol. 1 of Kill Bill, while Budd and Bill himself (at least as far as on-screen appearances go, concerning the latter) are far more present in Vol. 2. This sets Elle Driver apart, given she gets one pretty significant scene in Vol. 1 that sees her trying to kill The Bride while she’s in a coma, and then she ends up getting a handful of pivotal scenes in Vol. 2, too.
Daryl Hannah brings some serious menace to the role, and was perfectly cast here, given she has some similarities physically to Uma Thurman, which makes her resentment of not being Bill’s “favorite” blond woman hit all the more hard. She’s deliciously evil throughout both volumes of Kill Bill, and her intense/claustrophobic fight with The Bride in Vol. 2 is even better than the somewhat comparable one-on-one showdown between The Bride and Vernita Green at the start of Vol. 1.
5
Pai Mei
Played by Gordon Liu
Gordon Liu is one of the most legendary martial arts actors of all time, and Quentin Tarantino is a clear fan of his, given Liu has two roles in Kill Bill. The first, in Vol. 1, is more of a minor one, playing Johnny Mo, who’s the head general of O-Ren Ishii’s personal army (so honorable mention to him). But Gordon Liu shines more in Vol. 2, where he plays Pai Mei.
He’s shown to be someone associated with Bill who trained The Bride, with the whole flashback about his unconventional mentorship being one of the best sequences in the whole duology. It also pays off immensely well, given that part of what The Bride learned with Pai Mei allows her to punch her way out of the coffin she’s buried in, which is one of the most cathartic scenes maybe ever? Plus those beard flicks and his laugh are the stuff of legends.
4
Hattori Hanzō
Played by Sonny Chiba
Speaking of legendary martial arts actors who Quentin Tarantino worked with in Kill Bill, Sonny Chiba – the original street fighter himself – makes a huge impression in Kill Bill: Vol. 1 with what’s ultimately a fairly small role. He plays retired sword-maker Hattori Hanzō, who’s motivated to come out of retirement after The Bride tracks him down and tells him about her quest for revenge.
You do feel a whole history to this character that isn’t shown, based purely on how Sonny Chiba acts in the scenes we do see of him, and also because of how other characters speak of him. He’s the best character in the whole duology who isn’t either The Bride or a member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, with the sequence revolving around Hattori Hanzō being a highlight of Vol. 1 similarly to how the sequence with Pai Mei is a highlight of Vol. 2.
3
O-Ren Ishii
Played by Lucy Liu
Look, O-Ren Ishii gets favored by Quentin Tarantino when it comes to exploring the backstories of the people The Bride wants to track down and kill. A fairly sizable portion of Vol. 1 is dedicated to O-Ren’s life before she became associated with Bill and his squad of assassins, and the fact that a good deal of it plays out as an anime sequence (it works, somehow) makes her stand out for sure.
Also, Lucy Liu is iconic here physically speaking (the camera loves her here), and because of how powerful her performance is, with O-Ren feeling far from one-dimensional because of Liu and the character’s well-explored history. This makes her eventual defeat surprisingly tragic, and there are brief yet clever things done to establish a past friendship between O-Ren and The Bride that had to come to an end, thanks to a severe betrayal and the latter’s unwavering quest for revenge.
2
Bill
Played by David Carradine
The titular character of Kill Bill is obviously going to be one of the best characters in the whole duology, even if you don’t see his face until Vol. 2. David Carradine’s distinctive voice is enough for Bill to make a more than decent impression in Vol. 1, and then Vol. 2 gives him much more to do, with an exploration of his history with The Bride throughout, and a final act that mostly consists of the two talking one-on-one.
Carradine was an accomplished and prolific actor before Kill Bill for sure, but the role here just seems so perfect for him that it’s understandable why it’s become the one he’s best remembered for. Bill is an all-time great villain with just enough depth to humanize him, but also enough menace and unsettling qualities to make you root for his defeat. It’s largely thanks to the character and Carradine that Kill Bill: Vol. 2 remains just as exciting as Vol. 1, even while there’s not nearly as much action. All the dialogue-heavy scenes make for a more than fitting substitute for the bloodshed.
1
Beatrix Kiddo/The Bride
Played by Uma Thurman
It’s not a cop-out to pick The Bride as Kill Bill’s best character overall, because sometimes the most obvious pick is the right one. She’s been referred to as The Bride until now, but in Vol. 2 – as part of unpacking more of who she is, as a person – her real name is revealed to be Beatrix Kiddo. As “The Bride” in Vol. 1, she’s an unstoppable and somewhat mysterious killing machine, but then in Vol. 2, she’s humanized to a greater extent, and the audience finally understands her more as a character.
And Uma Thurman knocks it out of the park on both fronts. You buy her when she’s cutting through people with determination and ease, and then you feel for her in the quieter moments that let her cut loose emotionally (there’s some of that in Vol. 1, but most of that’s relegated to Vol. 2). Her grueling journey throughout both volumes is tense, disturbing, sometimes darkly funny, and always emotionally engaging, and Thurman being as great as she is in the role helps ensure Kill Bill never goes off the rails once throughout its chaotic and bombastic four-hour-ish runtime.
