Sunday, January 6, 2013

MOVIE REVIEW: Django Unchained


After his own interpretation of Nazi Europe in 2009's highly entertaining Inglorious Basterds, Quentin Tarantino is back at the director's chair with Django Unchained, his own version for the good old Spaghetti Western films of Sergio Leone mixed with some African-American Slavery issues in the 19th Century Southern United States.

Jamie Foxx plays the titular character, a slave who gets rescued by a German dentist Dr. King Schultz played by Christoph Waltz who also is a bounty hunter. As they are chasing for some murderous brothers, Django is solely focused on one thing, finding his wife Broomhilda (Kerry Washington) whom he lost in the slave trade. Leonardo DiCaprio portrays the ruthless landowner Calvin Candie who owns Broomhilda.
As with other Tarantino movies, Django boasts of smart writing  (the white mask and the skull scenes comes to mind) beneath the excessive and flashy B-Movie like violence and gore. Waltz who won the Supporting Actor Oscar in 2009 for his marvelous portrayal of Nazi officer Hans Landa in Basterds looks destined to nab his second nomination in the same category for this film. All in all, he gives the best performance in the movie and it also helps that he is the heart of soul of it.  Foxx and Washington, in their second team-up of a married couple after 2004's Ray have chemistry together and you can feel their pain for all their trials in that cruel era of American history.
DiCaprio and Samuel L. Jackson are both cast against type and they also succeed. Also look out for some cameos from celebrities in the film.
Great action, witty script and a love story hidden underneath all that gore makes Django Unchained Tarantino's most heartfelt film. This is clearly one of 2012's best films!!

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