It might not be Tarantino's best work, but it's a lot more enjoyable than the humdrum we get from Hollywood blockbusters

Rating: 6/10 (8 June 2013)

On the hunt for the Brittle brothers, a bounty hunter by the name of Dr. King Shultz (Christoph Waltz) frees Django (Jamie Foxx) who recognises the men he's looking for. Once done, Shultz trains Django and they partner up through the winter to finally end up at plantation owner Calvin Candie's (Lenardo DiCaprio) candy land in search of Django's wife Broomhilda von Shaft (Kerry Washington).
Set in the year 1858, Quentin Tarantino depicts an America where black slavery is prominent throughout society and Django in his pretty clothes, riding a horse stands out like an anomaly that lead to a few loosely put together plots and the banter throughout the film. That and what seemed like sloppy editing (made worse by censorship) now and then made the film lack any sense of direction. Compared to some of the other Tarantino films, this one lacked the finesse that you'd come expect from him.
Jamie Foxx as the protagonist does a fantastic job as he transforms from a nervous slave to a fearless bounty hunter but lacks the screen presence when surrounded by other actors. Christoph Waltz not only supersedes him with his extraordinary acting but even his character seemed less modulated and worth immersing yourself into.
Lenardo DiCaprio is amusingly eccentric and unhinged delivering yet another top notch performance while Samuel L. Jackson as Candie's adviser Stephen was literally a mishmash of stereotypes blurting out one line profanities as you'd expect from a grumpy old man. Kerry Washington is decent but doesn't really impress. Support and cameos from Walton Goggins, James Rema, Don Johnson, Jonah Hill etc was a mix bag of wasted screen time and necessary plot points.
Django Unchained never got boring. In fact is was a lot of fun to watch and was extremely entertaining. Problem was all of it didn't always fall into place which took the wind out of the sail for me. It might not be Tarantino's best work, but it's a lot more enjoyable than the humdrum we get from Hollywood blockbusters