Thursday, December 27, 2012

Film: Django Unchained







GENRE:
Drama/Western/Action
RATING: R for graphic violence, language and some nudity
RUNTIME: 2 hours and 46 minutes
STARRING: Jamie Foxx (The Kingdom, Miami Vice, Ray)
Christoph Waltz (Inglorious Basterds) Leonardo DiCaprio (Inception)
DIRECTOR: Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs)
WRITER: Quentin Tarantino (Kill Bill, Inglorious Basterds)
PLOT: A bounty hunter helps a slave rescue his wife from an evil plantation owner. Much blood is shed.  

FIVE OBSERVATIONS:
1 While the film is about Foxx’s Django character, it’s Waltz and DiCaprio who steal the show. Waltz is slick and humourous while DiCaprio is deliciously suave and despicable. Kudos also go to the unbelievably evil Samuel L Jackson.  
2 There’s a fun cameo in the surprisingly funny KKK scene. Who would have thought eye-holes would be so humourous?
3 Some great spaghetti western cinematography in this film, from beautiful journey shots to quick zoom close-ups.
4 You can tell that Tarantino’s beloved editor, Sally Menke, was not working on this feature (she died suddenly in 2010). There are parts that drag and seem unnecessary throughout the film. Hopefully the new editor, Fred Raskin, does a better slice & dice next time. Why so many slow motion walking scenes?
5 Tarantino makes liberal use of over-the-top blood splatter. Also most of the torture scenes are hard to watch. And rightfully so.  

RECOMMENDATION: Theatre for Tarantino fans
UPCOMING REVIEWS: Les Miserables

1 comment:

Ken said...

!!!!WARNING: SPOILERS!!!!
I definitely noticed the absence of Sally Menke. Unfortunate. I went in the theatre expecting a noticeable difference. The whole movie seemed totally new for Tarantino. It was a tremendous film though. Funny, interesting, and Christoph Waltz did a great job differentiating himself from Hans Landa (the beard helped). I was a little disappointed with the ending. I understand that SPOILERS BELOW SPOILERS BELOW SPOILERS BELOW SPOILERS BELOW SPOILERS BELOW SPOILERS BELOW SPOILERS BELOW SPOILERS BELOW SPOILERS BELOW
Christoph Waltz's character had to die, but I was so captivated with his character that I wasn't able to mentally prepare myself for it. And afterward, I was mostly waiting for it to end. Still a great movie, and Samuel L Jackson did a tremendous job at being evil, I agree. I've never really seen him as a bad guy before. It almost made it into my top 5. Now it's #6. But I'm sure Oscar Nominations will be had.
They better be.