Inglourious Basterds Review

For the past 20 years, Quentin Tarantino has made some the weirdest, most violent, and f-bomb filled films I have ever seen. He has a directing and writing style that is unique, and he adds zest and flavor to each of his films; from “Reservoir Dogs”, to “Pulp Fiction”, the “Kill Bill” movies, and now “Inglourious Basterds”. But, he hasn’t made a great Quentin Tarantino movie since “Pulp Fiction”. He’s made very good movies that have a unique style, but most of them don’t feel like a Quentin Tarantino movie. But, with “Inglourious Basterds”, Tarantino has finally made another great movie. It has smart, snappy dialogue, lots of blood and gore, strong language, and quirky characters. It might not be as good as “Pulp Fiction”, but it’s still one hell of a ride.

“Inglourious Basterds” (like most Tarantino movies) consists of interwoven storylines. One storyline involves a Jewish woman who (years before) witnessed the slaughter of her entire family at the hands of the Nazi officer Col. Hans Landa (played by Christoph Waltz), and now plans revenge on the Nazis the killed her family. Another storyline involves the Basterds, a group of guerilla soldiers led by Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt), who go around brutally killing and scalping Nazis. The storylines here are very well-developed and very entertaining, but the weakest one is the one with the Jewish woman hell-bent on revenge. Her storyline is interesting, but no where near as engaging and fun to watch as the storyline involving the Basterds. These guys are awesome, and with a universally excellent cast, you feel a real connection with these guys even if what they are doing seems animal-like to you.

When I said “Inglourious Basterds” features an excellent cast , I’m not kidding. I still may not be able to forgive Paul Rust for being in “I Love You, Beth Cooper”, but he’s very good here. The three greatest performances I think are by: Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz, and voice-over performance from Samuel L. Jackson. Brad Pitt with his hilarious accent feels like a genuine anti-hero and you root for this guy till the very end. Brad Pitt makes him charismatic, charming, and downright psychotic, and gives one of his best performances in years. Christoph Waltz also gives a great performance, and deserves a Best Supporting Actor nomination. Like Brad Pitt, he is charming, venomous, and downright brilliant. He may be an evil son of a bitch in the movie, but I would have dinner with this guy. He may kill me, but it’d be worth it. The supporting cast is also very good including Eli Roth, Diane Kruger, Mike Myers (yes, the Austin Powers Mike Myers), and Melanie Laurent.

One serious word of warning, this is a really violent movie. Even coming from Quentin Tarantino, some of the scenes in this film are shockingly gory and feature some very gruesome images. While it doesn’t even have one-tenth of the f-bombs that “Pulp Fiction” had, the violence makes this another hard-R Tarantino movie. Parents use extreme caution.

There are some problems with this movie. The biggest problem is that it’s way too long, and it doesn’t help that some of the scenes drag on long after I’m satisfied with them. At 149 minutes, it can get boring, but if it were 120 minutes, this would’ve been a much better movie. Another big problem I had with the film was some of the dialogue. While most of it is very, very good, I felt some pieces of dialogue to awkward and out of place. Tarantino also makes so many references to other movies in this film, and they don’t help the film. They just feel even more out of place. Also, there’s a subplot involving Diane Kruger that I felt wasn’t necessary. As gorgeous as she is and as great of a performance she delivers, the subplot felt hollow and (once again) out of place. For those expecting a realistic portrayal of an alternate reality with deep moral issues and realistic action, you’re completely fucked. Like the Kill Bill movies, it’s not very realistic and it’s really over-the-top.

Overall, “Inglourious Basterds” is another strong addition to great movie month of August 2009. It’s gritty, over-the-top, and a lot of fun to watch. While it does have its issues, I had a great time and for my money, that’s all I want. A-