Everyone deserves a second chance for redemption.

In Kill Bill Vol. 2, controversial director Quentin Tarantino has produced another unusual dark comedy continuing his legacy of Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs and Jackie Brown.

The second and final installment is more tastefully done than the first. Unlike the ultra-violent Vol. 1, the sequel contains more of what Tarantino fans have grown to expect. Witty, cutting-edge dialogue pokes fun at society while a delightful classic ’70s soundtrack provides the backdrop for a variety of kung-fu fights.

Tarantino provides the viewer with sufficient background for someone who hasn’t seen the first, but keeps it interesting for those who have by disclosing entertaining details that give richness and layers to the characters’ history missing in the confusing and bloody first volume.

Kill Bill Vol. 2 is full of experienced and familiar actors Tarantino routinely gathers around himself like Uma Thurman as The Bride returning from a coma to enact her revenge; Michael Madsen as a drunk, out of practice Texas assassin; and Samuel L. Jackson in a entertaining bit part as a has-been jazz musician turned wedding organist in a short flashback.

There are more emotional and philosophical conversations than fight scenes, developing the story and making you care about these cold-blooded characters rather than just showing severed body parts in pools of blood.

The opposite focus of the movies can be explained if keeping in mind the two volumes were meant to be one movie, but were separated because of their length.

The subject matter is appropriately bizarre. Thurman stars as the pissed off bride out to get revenge on her former assassin buddies who tried to kill her during her wedding rehearsal. In Vol. 1, Thurman works half-way down her hit list and now only three names remain. The very last is the ringleader, Bill, who Thurman very much wants to kill.

The Kill Bill movies were inspired by Tarantino’s obsession with classic kung-fu films and were made to both honor and spoof those classic films. The sections of the movie are broken up into chapters that are labeled with large conspicuously cheesy text and the fight-scene sound effects are reminiscent of the “wham,” “bam” of classic Batman episodes.

Kill Bill Vol. 2, although more tasteful and savvy, is still very violent, and several main characters experience very unpleasant and disturbing deaths. The film is rated R for a reason and is not suitable for anyone under 17 years of age.

Although, like the first, this movie is a parody of classic kung-fu movies from the ’70s, it is clever enough to be taken seriously and enjoyed for the cinematic masterpiece that it is.