Rating of
3.5/4
Review: Django Unchained
MikePA - wrote on 12/26/12
Quentin Tarantino knocks it out of the park once again with Django Unchained, a funny, stylish, and gritty western that is also one of the more enjoyable films of the year. It may not be an instant Tarantino classic like Pulp Fiction and Inglourious Basterds, but Django Unchained is one hell of a wild ride. Last year, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was labeled "The Feel Bad Movie Of Christmas." This Christmas, Django Unchained might just be deserving of that tagline.
You simply can not walk into a Tarantino film without expecting a few things - lots of style, lots of laughs, LOTS of blood, lots of killer foreplay, and lots of cool music. With Django Unchained, Quentin Tarantino kicks the "lots of laughs" and "LOTS of blood" parts up a big notch. It's a very bloody film, and whether or not it's accurate to what slavery was really like is superfluous. Look at Inglourious Basterds. Was Hitler really killed by a group of vengeance-seeking Jews called "The Basterds"? Just sit back and have fun.
Quentin Tarantino really goes out into the open with Django Unchained. Since it's technically a western, you get a lot of sequences that take place on mountains and snowy hills and forests that are all really well shot. Many of the set pieces look terrific, notably the interior of Candieland. It's the most colorful and visually appealing film Quentin Tarantino has ever made.
As I said before, there is a lot of blood. Whether it takes place during an action sequence or during a slave-beating, a quite large amount of gore is injected into those scenes. It's very reminiscent of the way blood was used in the Kill Bill movies. When somebody gets shot, huge globs of blood and guts explode out of the body. It occasionally gets very over-the-top, but that's the fun of it. There are also a handful of action sequences that are well crafted.
Another terrific element in the film is the screenplay, written by Quentin Tarantino. He always writes great dialogue, and in this film you get everything you'd really expect from a Tarantino script. I won't be surprised if this screenplay is nominated for an Oscar.
All of the performances are terrific. Jamie Foxx was much, much better than I had anticipated as Django. He also creates a very intriguing character. He keeps you engaged from when you first meet him up to his final moment in the film. Christoph Waltz, who won an Oscar for his mesmerizing portrayal of a Nazi in Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds, is also fantastic here. He's some kind of genius, always finding a way out of tense predicaments through lies and, only when necessary, pulling out a gun and killing somebody. The villain of the film, Calvin Candie, is played by Leonardo DiCaprio. This is the performance I was looking forward to the most. While I can't say DiCaprio impressed me, I can say that I thoroughly enjoyed his performance. He creates a scary and sometimes darkly funny villain. I also want to mention that there is a cameo by Jonah Hill which takes place in one of the funniest scenes of the year.
Go see Django Unchained. It's totally worth it. There's great dialogue and interesting characters, with a plot that's good enough to hold your attention throughout the course of the film. If you're a fan of Tarantino, this is definitely worth the price of admission. If you just want to have a great time at the movies, this is the one you must see.
3.5/4
