Inglourious Basterds

Tarantino’s latest all-out adventure is Inglourious Basterds, the story of a special unit sent into France to kill as many Nazi’s as possible. Yet there are more layers to this story than that; we also get stories involving two very interesting female leads, and one outstanding villain in Hans Landa.

This is not a fast-paced action film, nor is it a big gore fest (though there are some disturbing aspects). This is a solid story with multiple plot threads winding together towards a mutual climax. Along the way we are witness to some great dialogue scenes and some absolutely outstanding acting.

The most notable performance is Christoph Waltz as Landa, the most interesting villain of the year. He is so much fun to watch, even though you hate his guts the whole time you do. Brad Pitt is also outstanding as Aldo the Apache. I damn near had a laughing fit after hearing him ‘speak Italian’. Melanie Laurent also gives a very captivating and moving portrayal of a Jewish theater owner, and Diane Kruger is full of tenacity and fire as a German actress. All four are a delight to watch.

This film does have some flaws. The music for one; i mean, David Bowie? Really? And the first third of the movie sounds like they ripped the music off straight from Kill Bill, which had me worrying at the start about how original this film would be.  However, the soundtrack does improve later.
Also, I think I was hoping for a little more complexity at the end, as there was a lot of build up to the inevitable climax. And I think Tatantino’s quirks are starting to wear thin, like the sudden block letter name intros in the middle of the film.

However, these flaws are pretty minor when you are able to focus on the moments of absolute brilliance which this film contains.
9/10