Self-indulgent, but still a worthwhile Tarantino movie

Rating: 8/10 (1 June 2013)

DJANGO UNCHAINED, Tarantino's spin on the spaghetti western genre, should rightly be called a southern rather than a western. It's an epic-length story about slavery and redemption in the southern states, featuring an ensemble cast and the kind of ultra-stylistic, ultra-violent gunplay that Tarantino has made a trademark all of his own. It's also one of Tarantino's most self-indulgent movies, coming third to the worst excesses of DEATH PROOF and KILL BILL: VOLUME 2.
Like INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS before it, the ace up Django's sleeve is Christoph Waltz, once again delivering a subtle, softly-spoken and multi-layered turn that's reminiscent of his best work as Colonel Hans Landa. Waltz walks away with the movie; every scene in which he doesn't appear is noticeably the poorer for it, and Tarantino gets the very best from his German star. That's good, because the rest of the movie thinks it's better than it really is; the opening and ending are both strong, but the middle is very saggy, lacking in action, incident or any form of suspense or intrigue.
It does pick up here and there with a couple of blistering action sequences in which Tarantino seems to have ploughed the grisly excesses of PLANET TERROR for inspiration, but even one of these is spoilt by Tarantino's insistence on including some jarring rap music on the soundtrack (a silly effort to pander to the young black male audience, and shameful considering the rest of the excellent, eclectic score). Then there's the lengthy dinner table scene that tries to outdo the one in BASTERDS but doesn't come close.
Even with these detractions, this is still an entertaining movie, which is mainly thanks to Tarantino's skill in direction; he brings all of the drama, bloodshed and humour you'd expect to the tale. I'm no fan of Jamie Foxx but this is probably his best performance given that he plays it taciturn for the most part; Samuel L. Jackson walks away with a great minor role, and DiCaprio makes for a wonderfully slimy bad guy; you'll wonder why casting him as a villain wasn't considered previously. Tarantino's skill at casting familiar faces in minor roles (the likes of Dennis Christopher, James Remar and Franco Nero, for instance) is as good as ever, but I'll have to watch this film a couple more times to decide whether it's truly great or merely quite good.