Inglourious Basterds

So. Quentin Tarantino again. That’s right, another glorious bloodfest of delightful proportions, now with Hitler! But onto the movie.

The plot is that a group of Jewish Americans that are dropped into German occupied France in order to kick butt and take scalps. They soon plot to blow up a movie theater that Hitler will be at, and lengthy and somewhat meaningless dialogue ensues. While the Basterds are killing and plotting, a young Jewish-French girl who owns the theater Hitler is going to also plots to blow it up as revenge for her family’s death. All the while, German officer Hans Landa is subverting the girl and the Basterds' progress.

While that maybe the plot, that is not the story. Typical Tarantino, 80% of the movie is either trivial cultural dialogue or unnecessary back-story. While I usual enjoy this aspect of Tarantino, and it was fun, it seems lacking for the reason that this is France in the 1940’s the characters are not speaking English, and there is no overarching message or theme. Usually Tarantino’s violence has a point, or advances the plot in a meaningful way, but nothing feels significant. It’s amusing, but not grippingly so. There are funny moments, and interesting stories and dialogue, but the entire time you feel like you are waiting for something to happen. Finally, at the end of the movie, when Hitler is dead, you realize that this is the movie, what you were waiting for hasn’t happened.

Now, don’t take this the wrong way. I liked Inglourious Basterds, it’s just not as amazing as his past movies, with the possible exception of Death Proof. Had I gone into the theater without certain expectations, I probably would have enjoyed the movie more. That said, I absolutely adore Christoph Waltz. He played Hans Landa, who in my mind almost single-handedly made my eleven dollars well spent. He was completely in the character and as ridiculous as Landa is, Waltz not only pulls it off with style, he makes you believe and understand where the character in his evilness comes from. This actor is Austrian born, and is fluent in English, German, French, and Italian, all of which he uses in the movie. One thing I do have to say for Tarantino, is that he was more authentic with the language usage than I would have expected. French characters speak French, German characters speak German. More than what we got in Schindler’s list, or Defiance. There are other awesome moments of the film, but they all involve Landa, and I'd rather not ruin the moment.

Overall, worth seeing, but not worth paying eleven dollars for. Perhaps four dollars, and then the slow developing, fractured, but linear, storyline would be worth it.

Oh, and by the way, Brad Pitt sucks as an actor and Til Schweiger is sexy. That is all.