Thursday, February 7, 2013

Movie Review ... Django Unchained

 

django_unchained_POSTER‘Django Unchained’ proves a point in telling cinematic stories.   Knowing how to tell them in an engrossing way within a reasonable time-frame ensures its main focus is never lost.  Director Quentin Tarantino had this ability when he scored big with ‘Reservoir Dogs’ over twenty years ago.  Sadly his latest finds him losing his story-telling mojo.  This doesn’t mean it’s bad by any means, it’s just his ode to Westerns loses much impact over its gargantuan running time.

Freed from slavery by bounty hunter King Schultz (Christoph Waltz), Django (Jamie Foxx) sets out on a mission.  Determined to find his wife - now the slave of wealthy plantation owner Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio) - he enlists Schultz’s help.  Entering the abode of Candie’s formidable mansion, vengeance drives Django.  What ensues is a bloody game of brinkmanship where not many make it out alive.

Despite being too long and frequently self-indulgent ‘Django’ has a lot going for it.  Apart from a great cast, it mimics the classic Western-style to fine effect.  Not for a moment do we forget it’s a Tarantino movie however, with its ultra-savage veneer a perfect fit for his brand of quirky film-making.  This is basically his version of a Sergio Leone Spaghetti Western – complete with booming orchestral score. 

The cinematography aids this retro-imagining by capturing the dangerous realm the characters inhabit with starkness.  It’s just a shame ‘Django’s tale of violent revenge is let down by the editing.  There really isn’t enough plot to sustain the unwieldy length with the admittedly well-written monologues becoming tiresome.  The action, when it eventually arrives, is suitably amazing but it’s a chore reaching those points.

Mixing humour with violence may be a dubious tactic although it’s something Tarantino has built his career on.  ‘Django’ has lots of it and while not as good as his earlier works in terms of expressing its tale its vision of wild-west lawlessness is filled with several savagely memorable moments.

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Movie Review Rating out of 10:  7

Movie Review by Patrick Moore

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