"D'artagnan, motherf...."

Rating: 8/10 (10 December 2013)

I'm going to try to make this a short review. I watched this on blu-ray, and while I did enjoy the film, at least my blu-ray version was very short on special features, not even a commentary track. Anyway, here goes:
From the very first note of the "Django" theme and the very first scene, I knew this was going to be a really fun ride. And so it was.
The film is paced very differently from what we usually get nowadays. The first hour or so seems almost like a montage, in which Django along with Dr. King are set up to point X. From point X, the movie slows down a lot. Everything happens very slowly like in a conversational drama, we see every moment in detail and the movie just takes its time. The last 30 minutes just explodes in your face with action, silliness and buckets of blood. Normally this wouldn't work well and here lies the biggest weakness of "Django unchained": the film can feel a little out of focus with these tonal and pacing shifts at times. When it grips you one moment, it can let you loose at another. It doesn't feel as tight and solid as you'd expect and it can be a dealbreaker for some people. That said and recognized, I rate this movie purely on how much I enjoyed it, and luckily I did enjoy it a lot despite the aforementioned issues.
Even if I could describe and dissect this movie perfectly (which I can't), it's ultimately just damn entertaining to watch. You get it all: drama, humor, costumes, great soundtrack, nice scenery, awesome characters and performances, good dialogue and two kinds of action: one that is brutal and almost shocking to watch, and other that is just over the top and funny as hell.
The performances are great. And I even think that Christoph Waltz, who won an Oscar for this movie too, shouldn't have got the award. I'm not saying he's not good, he certainly is good and his character ties many things together. What I'm saying is there were so many great performances that Waltz was just one of the highlights and possibly not even the best one.
Samuel L. Jackson was amazing and he would've been my pick for the award. I knew he is a good actor, but I was a little bit surprised. Leonardo DiCaprio was a blast to watch. At first it seemed like it's "just Leo having fun", but after awhile he really became something else than "just Leo giving a performance". It was powerful and I enjoyed the hell out of his work. It became hard to root against the guy, no matter how evil of a bastard he was! Jamie Foxx in my mind was at his best in the first act, and after that "just fine", which is definitely enough but character-wise I was expecting a little more. Don Johnson was fun. This is definitely a movie in which even the guys with not a lot of screen time (Walton Goggins, Michael Parks, the great Bruce Dern) have an impact on you. Kerry Washington had the least impact on me. I don't think she was bad, I just didn't think she stood out enough, which is perfectly understandable with all the wonderful performances around her. Tarantino himself was also pretty useless, but hey, I can take a cameo.
The soundtrack is great. Pure western (the great Ennio Morricone) along with some...rap? I don't know how it works. It shouldn't, but every piece of music I heard made me nod in acceptance or mosh violently with the beat.
Costumes, sets and scenery are all very beautiful to watch. Thumbs up to production department.
This is a long movie. One time I even thought it ended, and there was still almost 30 minutes to go. Nevertheless, we get a rewarding ending and I really couldn't see any of the longer scenes being cut. They are all either important or just too fun to be cut. "Django unchained" justifies its length.
This movie has so much in it. It is absolutely more emotional and fun than it's intelligent, so watch this movie for what it is and in the right state of mind. One of my favorite westerns, only topped by a couple of Clint Eastwood films and possibly Mangold's "3:10 to Yuma".
Recommended for everyone, except of course children and hipsters.