40% of a good movie

Rating: Null/10 (22 December 2015)

Once again Tarantino shows us that he knows how to make about half of a good movie. He sets up an intriguing if wildly implausible premise, a nattily dressed ex-dentist has become an expert bounty hunter who makes his money killing the uneducated white trash of the pre-Civil War south. And the dentist doesn't embrace slavery and has a soft spot for slaves.
Christoph Waltz plays this part with aplomb and fits perfectly into Tarantino's uniquely paced scenes and dialogue, handling what would otherwise be impossibly wordy expositions as if he always spoke that way.
And so the movie begins and we're taken through a few scenes showing the dentist's perfect poise and implausible shooting accuracy. He frees a slave (Django) and forms a relationship with him and initially we aren't sure what direction the film will go.
Unfortunately, with the stage set, this is about where it starts to come off of the rails. Tarantino's fetish for completely over the top violence was originally his signature but now is a stain on his films. He approaches the border of addressing "adult" topics and conflicts such as racism, slavery, cultural issues, or a great showdown between two prominent characters, and seems able to immerse himself in these issues to understand them well enough to portray them on the screen.
But like a 14 year old who would rather play video games than do his homework, he quickly pulls the plug on any serious story telling and descends into mindless splatter- filled violence which, once started, can only increase through the rest of the film until it reaches a disgusting big red goopy climax. Slaves eaten by dogs, slaves killing each other with hammers, men wailing in pain after being shot or crushed, 20+ person shoot- outs with red paint coating every visible surface... it's hard to watch and doesn't tell a story or really do anything for the viewer, it's just self-indulgent nonsense.
Tarantino clearly has talent in coming up with good story ideas, providing viewers with an immersive experience into other times and places, and attracting great actors and getting great performances out of them. It's too bad it's all wasted on his mental masturbations.
I can't help but to wonder about the people calling this movie a "masterpiece" and wonder if they have ever actually seen a good movie or read a good book. If watching a movie just to see 100 people graphically killed and dismembered before your eyes is your idea of supreme entertainment then maybe you should think again.