Rating of
3/4
A Bloody Good Western - Tarantino Style
Chris Kavan - wrote on 12/30/12
By now, you should know what to expect when coming in to a Quentin Tarantion film: snappy dialogue, awesome music, gobs of blood and (lately) history turned on its ear. Django Unchained takes a classic spaghetti western, mixes it with an action/revenge theme - along with many memorable and excellent characters - and the result is a film that oozes cool while remaining true to its roots.
We start off with a long tracking shot of a group of slaves - one of whom, Django (Jamie Foxx), is of great interested to fellow German traveler Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz). He wastes no time in haggling over price before things turn sour. Then we learn that Dr. Schultz is a cold-blooded bounty hunter - which is good for Django, not so good for the Speck slaver brothers who were hauling him.
Seems our good doctor needs Django to ID some other men - men who he knows from a plantation - Django is only too happy to oblige - killing white people is right up his alley. Only he has one stipulation - he wants to know what has happened to his wife, Broomhilda (Hilde for short - played by Kerry Washington). Soon the duo form a partnership, and Django proves to be an able hand with rifle or pistol.
The first part of the movie is more "fun" - going after bad guys, cameos from the likes of Don Johnson, Jonah Hill and M.C. Gainey amongst others. An impromptu raiding party - a kind of precursor to the KKK - turns into one long comedic piece as the men complain about not being able to see out of the eyeholes in their masks and it goes on and on as one, long drawn-out joke (that works!).
Tarantino isn't about to skimp on his trademark violence here, either. People take literal bloodbaths, as the red spray blankets everything from faces to cotton fields. It's a bit over-the-top, but it fits the style of movie. Also apparent is Tarantino's ear for dialogue. Waltz especially gives an outstanding performance. I would say he's just as good here as he was in Inglourious Basterds - only he's not flat out evil (though bounty hunting isn't the most clean of professions).
Hitting it out of the park in the music department is par for the course, and Django's use of both score and song is top notch once again. Where else could you find Rick Ross rapping next to Jim Croce while Ennio Morricone and Luis Bacalov perfectly set the scene? I will tell you: absolutely no where, because Tarantino's use of music, in my opinion, is second to none in the the industry and he proves once again his outstanding taste in this department.
Moving on in the story, eventually the two figure out Hilde is being held at Calvin Candie's (Leonardo DiCaprio - finally playing a great villain) huge plantation, Candieland. They come up with a plan to pose as a couple of men looking to buy a Mandigo fighter - Django is the spotter, Schultz the money. Everything is working smoothly until Candie's cranky, intelligent head house slave (Samuel L. Jackson - amazing and horrible at the same time) smells a rat. Of course you know this is going to end just as bloody as things begin.
A lot has been said about the prodigious use of the n-word throughout the film. Recognizing this was set two years before the Civil War... and widely in the south - what would you expect? I don't think it was over-used to any extent of the time, nor did I feel it detracted from the film in any way. Some people may be offended, but don't count me as one of them.
Sometimes the glorified blood gouts seemed a bit much - even for Tarantino - and I almost felt at times things could have been toned down just a bit. Yet the violence was just as much a part of the movie as the language - you just have to live with it. I also thought the second part dragged on a bit compared to the faster pace of the first half. I still enjoy the dialogue, but it started to wear on me towards the end.
All in all - this is a can't miss film for fans of Tarantino. It's got everything good he's known for, and it does things right. I can't quite say it's his best film, but it certainly is entertaining and nice way to end the year - raw and bloody.
