Unchained And Unleashed

Going to try reviewing things in a slightly altered style, so that these reviews don't just look like walls of text (well, they still will be, but at least it might be more accessible).

So, let's jump right into Django Unchained.

Django (Jamie Foxx) is a slave, freed by dentist-turned-bounty hunter, Schultz (Christoph Waltz) to help him find the Brittle brothers. In return, Schultz offers to help Django rescue his wife, Broomhilda (Kerry Washington), an endeavor that leads them to the affably evil Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCpario).

Rather than just things off paragraph by paragraph, jumping between good and bad, I'm just going to review this (and the movies for the next few posts) with a pros and cons list.

Pros:

• The acting. Oh my Lord, the acting is sensational. Jamie Foxx is just a badass, so stoic and determined, and fantastic with a gun. He's able to roll with the punches (figuratively and literally), but get him talking about his wife, and you can hear the devotion in his voice, and see it in his eyes. Jamie Foxx may not have been the first choice but as far as I'm concerned, he's the best choice.
  Leonardo DiCaprio... it's actually really hard to hate his character, despite being racist and despicable. He's just so charming, and even somewhat caring. I mean, he's still a bad person for his racist tendencies, but he's much less of a racist than any of the other antagonists (I know that doesn't make up for anything, but he's actually a really complex character). Hell, his manservant, Stephen (Samuel L. Jackson) speaks to him harshly, but Calvin treats him like sage council, and seems to have the utmost respect for him.
  Kudos to DiCaprio for adding layers to what otherwise would have been a stock standard villain.

But the one who steals the show is Christoph Waltz. Just about anything that comes out of the guy's mouth is hilarious, and he's always cool and collected under pressure. Aside from his general cool attitude, he's also a progressive thinker and loyal to a fault. As good as he was in Inglorious Basterds, he's even better here.

• The gunplay. Typical for a Tarantino film, there's a whole lot of talk, and a whole lot of action, both of which are most welcome. Unlike Gangster Squad, where the choice to use blood splatter to gore up a scene was head-scratching, it's not bothersome here, mostly because Tarantino is playing fast and loose.
  Hell, sometimes, it's downright hilarious, especially towards the end. Sometimes, it even resembles a rail shooter! I can't remember the last time I laughed at an action sequence. Though, I should point out, this was laughter of “Holy crap, what ideas ran through this mad man's head?!” kind, because it's off the wall, insane and I have not one single problem with it.
• My favourite scene, however, is actually quiet in terms of action, and is actually really heartwarming. In this scene, Schultz is telling Django a story about a knight named Seigfried, who rescues his wife Broomhilda after a long and arduous journey. Not only is it something that lifts Django's spirits, it's a nice little parallel to the movie itself (with the use of the name Broomhilda perhaps being the least subtle thing about it). Sometimes, in fast-talkin', fast-shootin' films, it's the quiet moments that prove to be the most effective.

Cons:

• Speaking of Broomhilda, let's go over to the character featured within the movie. Now, I have nothing against Kerry Washington, but her character in this film is basically a living prop. All she does is scream, or look scared or confused (up until the very end, where she does show different emotions) and even partly contributes to the plans not going... well, to plan.
  I can't really entirely blame her, the character is poorly written. Which is a shame, since Tarantino knows how to write a strong woman (see the Kill Bill films for many examples). On the plus side, if they ever do a Super Mario movie, she's got Princess Peach's mannerisms down (yeah, I know Peach isn't black, so what? Kingpin wasn't black in the Daredevil comics but Michael Clarke Duncan was the best thing about that movie).
• Ending fatigue. I'm sure I've gone over this before, but in case, I haven't, ending fatigue is when a movie (can apply to other mediums, but let's stay with movies here) looks like it's about to end, but keeps going, even though most of its loose ends are tied up. This is a criticism commonly thrown at films like The Return Of The King, the last couple Pirates Of The Caribbean films, The Dark Knight/The Dark Knight Rises and Transformers: Dark Of The Moon (that last one I'll definitely agree with).
  And, sorry to say, it kind of kicked in here for me. (Slight spoiler here). After a big shoot-out in Calvin's mansion in which Django is outnumbered and lacking in ammunition, Django is captured. What happens after that I won't reveal, since I think I've said too much already, but really, if Tarantino had changed a few things, and had that shoot-out be the end of it, I'd have been perfectly content. I mean, I don't hate what comes after, but once that part starts, you begin to wonder whether or not the movie actually IS ending soon. And since it concludes the way we expect it to, it's not like we actually needed it.

All in all, another solid offering from Tarantino, and an early contender for my top five for the year. Will it stay that way? Bit early to say, but either way, it's a Hell of a ride.