Inglourious Basterds is not really a war movie, though its settings and situations have elements of classic WWII films.  In actuality Tarantino’s latest film is more akin to one of his previous movies, Kill Bill, in that it is a revenge fantasy film rather than a commentary on the atrocities and horror of war.  Instead of showing you the brutality of violence, it celebrates it with various scenarios of revenge fantasies.  That is not to say that it wasn’t entertaining or well done, just that any moral messages or realism like those found in the critically acclaimed WWII series Band of Brothers aren’t really the point.

The story follows 3 different storylines/characters (The ‘Basterds’, Shosanna, and The Nazis) that eventually lead to the same place in the end.  The main storyline isn’t novel and exists in an alternative WWII universe, but the way Tarantino does it in his unique style is definitely different than any “war movie” you’ve ever seen.  I do wish that they had shown more of the ‘Basterds’ other exploits and cut some of the other scenes down, especially during the middle of the film.

The acting in ‘Basterds’ all around is pretty good, but the standout performance of the movie is definitely Christoph Waltz, who plays the cunning Nazi Colonel Hans Landa AKA “Jew Hunter”. The character of instills a sense of fear, intelligence, and is unrelenting in his pursuit to capture Jews and Aldo’s Apaches.  The opening sequence with him searching for Jews on a French farm is a brilliant introduction to his character and a gateway into his mind and perception for the rest of the movie.

Brad Pitt does a good job as Aldo Raine, who commands the ‘Basterds’ on their run of terror, brutally killing as many Nazis as they can find.  His character is funny and pretty much unfazed throughout the whole movie.  Melanie Laurent plays the beautiful Jewish cinema owner, Shosanna, whose past has brought her to hate the Nazis, and has her own plans for them. She does a nice job at portraying a haunted woman with deep anger and sadness without going into the clichéd realm of self-indulgent pity or extreme cold-heartedness. Hostel director Eli Roth plays Donnie Donowitz AKA “The Bear Jew” who has two of the most memorable scenes of the movie, though not because of his performance (which was decent) but because of what he actually gets to do in them.

I would say the weakest part of the film is the pacing.  The movie is broken down in 5 Chapters, much like Kill Bill, and the first 2 chapters start off well, but the 3^rd and 4^th chapter which has the crux of the setup for the 5^th and final chapter, are a bit long and drag for certain points.  There’s a lot of unnecessary dialogue (Tarantino has that? No way) that while mostly entertaining, still went on and on even beyond that of a typical Tarantino flick (Deathproof excluded)

Another thing about the movie that wasn’t strong, but didn’t bother me as much, was there a few plot holes and illogical character choices that don’t really make any sense.     

PROS:
Christoph Waltz performance of Colonel Hans Landa is outstanding and memorable, and the character is the most fascinating of the movie

Shosanna’s storyline is the strongest and most compelling

When the action is going, it’s fierce and well done

Tension built through scenes is great, even if a little of it is tedious

Finale is action packed and pretty thrilling in the ultimate “revenge fantasy”

CONS:
Pacing of the movie is very off, there will be periods of the movie that will drag, as Tarantino’s signature masturbatory dialogue may even  turn off the hardcore fans

A few plot holes, that make certain scenes or actions seem illogical

There could have been a little more action especially to help pace the movie better

Would like to see more of the “Basterds’s” exploits before the finale

Overall I recommend this movie, if you are a fan of Tarantino and his previous work.  If you don’t, nothing in this will change your mind, and if you are a big fan, it will only increase your fandom of his work and style.  Another thing is that you can’t be bothered by graphic violence or expect a lot of action either in order to enjoy Inglourious Basterds.  There are definitely some places I would have trimmed some of the dialogue in order to move the story along at a better pace, as the two and a half hour movie probably only needed to be two.

However despite that, this is my 3^rd favorite movie of the year so far, behind Moon and District 9, and slightly above Star Trek.

- Dennis

PS – I uploaded the footage of Quentin Tarantino introducing the movie at Arclight last night, it’s dark and you can barely see him, but you can see hear him pretty well as he practially was pumping up the crowd like we were part of professional sports team, hahaha, Check it out below underneath the grade.

I give it a:

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