Django: A comedic action to remember!

Rating: 9/10 (4 October 2013)

Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained takes place in the year 1858 and it begins with a man named Dr. King Schultz who is looking for a man named Django who can help him find and kill the Brittle brothers. Schultz then finds Django and other slaves marching in Texas with the Speck brothers. Schultz kindly offers to buy Django and when the Speck brothers refuse, he kills one brother and cripples the other brother and his horse. Schultz pays the live brother and gets the respective papers for Django's ownership.
Schultz and Django then arrive at a bar in a small town near El Paso and begin to discuss exactly why Schultz has found him and what Django will get for helping him identify the Brittle brothers. Schultz explains that he is no longer a dentist but now a bounty hunter and that if Django helps him he will give him his freedom, 75 dollars, and his own horse. After Django immediately agrees to the terms, Schultz shows he is a bounty hunter by proving to the town that their sheriff is an outlaw and had a bounty over his head.
Django and Schultz make up a plan to have Django act as his valet. They arrive at "Big Daddy's" plantation asking to buy one of his many slave girls for an outrageous price. While Schultz consults "Big Daddy", Django is given free roam around the plantation to find the Brittle brothers. He shoots one dead on the spot, whips the other till unconscious, shoots him, and Schultz kills the last brother with a sniper rifle. Once this is done Schultz asks what Django will do now and he replies that he will try and find his wife Brunhilde. Schultz decides to help Django retrieve his wife from Calvin Candie's 'Candie Land'. When they both arrive and try and make it seem like they are interested in buying one of Calvin's mandigo fighters, one of Calvin's house slaves indicate that those are not their real intentions. When this is realized a huge gun fight in Calvin's house breaks out, and although Schultz is killed in this, Django kills many but is captured once he runs out of bullets and is out numbered. Once Django escapes his capturing and returns to 'Candie Land' to rescue his wife, he kills every last survivor and blows up the house in the process.
Review Tarantino films do have an immense amount of killing but that is the not the only focus that he brings to the movie screen.Throughout the movie, there are many occurrences where the audience is caught laughing and the movie is no longer strictly serious. One scene in particular that is put in to give some comedic relief is when "Big Daddy" sends a group of men to go kill Schultz and Django. During this scene the group of men argue to each other about lack of sight when wearing the bags on their heads and whose fault it is. This scene in particular makes it seem like it is more of a comedic movie rather than a serious one. Even a racial word such as the "N" word in this movie has more of a satirical side to it rather than one to demean a black person. When I was watching this movie I was laughing from start to finish, there were numerous parts of the movie that played to my sense of humor and got me to laugh even though this was about a serious topic. The funniest actors of the movie in my opinion were Jamie Foxx and Samuel L. Jackson. Jacksons part in the movie as Calvin Candie's slave not only fits the time period but is outrageously funny and at times had me at the brink of tears and a serious ab workout. The comedic relief in this movie makes it a lot more enjoyable to watch rather than a movie simply about a freed slave turning the tables. When someone sees a Tarantino film such as Inglorious Bastards or Django Unchained, they think of a movie with massive amounts of action and gore. This is true because in both films there is an immense amount of killing, and we see this in the first scene of Django as Schultz violently kills one Speck brother and cripples the other. Django and Schultz travel through the movie first striking vengeance on the Brittle brothers, then going on the hunt for his lost wife. Throughout the movie killing and bloodshed cannot be escaped and is one of the main themes of the movie. There are several scenes in the movie where action and violence are the main focus, such as Django dealing out his wrath on two of the Brittle brothers and Schultz sniping the other or the massive shootout in Calvin Candie's house. While some say the movie did have some moderately funny parts, it was more of an act to relieve tension and kind of just thrown in the movie. Even though there were some parts like this, they still saw it as a movie with a bunch of action and gore and not so much laughter. Parts such as the slave being torn to shreds or Django's wife being beaten in front of him or even when she was trapped in the heat box for torture really make your stomach churn and take away any sort of laughter or smile you once had. It is his style of movies and it is either a hit or miss for the audience that watches his movies. I saw Django as more of a comedic action and gore movie rather than just strictly an action and gore movie. The comedy of it was tied in at the right points and made the movie truly a joy to watch rather than just a long action movie.