Good but needs less Tarantino

Rating: 7/10 (5 January 2013)

I hadn't heard a bad word about this movie going in, but knew to temper my expectations only because you can have a big let down if you go in with too much enthusiasm.
The movie was a mixed bag for me but a little better than the sum of its parts. The pacing is really odd throughout the entire movie in my opinion. The plot gets sidetracked or takes too long to move on multiple times. Also, there are some strange transitions (scrolling text in order to fast forward months in time? Really?) and shots of characters slowly approaching a location which should've been cut down so we could just get on with it. "Jerky" is how I'd describe the pacing in one word.
My big beef was that while I like Tarantino, he seriously needs to dial it back a bit on some of his signature techniques. They must've went through a thousand blood packets in this movie it was just ridiculous. I like violent movies but all the blood became egregious and without a point, and no this wasn't filmed in a Kill Bill sort of way. Also the general gruesome violence shown was too much. The whipping and the branding, okay I can hack that, but the two slaves wrestling to the death while DiCaprio hoots and hollers was a sick joke. It goes on for 2-4 solid minutes of uncomfortable screen time, with shots that could've been easily cut out and we would've still gotten the point. Yes I understand that this is our history and sometimes you have to force yourself to look, but the movie features the N-word throughout and it's obvious that almost every white character looks at black people as their property to use and abuse as they please. We get it, it's clear as day, you don't have to subject the audience to something so unsettling when you've already made your point. Lastly as others have said Tarantino needs to stop putting himself in these films. You're sucked in to a movie and then he shows up and takes you right out of it. It was cute once or twice, now please stop for the sake of your own work.
The performances were very good and that's what held it all together for me despite my complaints above. DiCaprio stole the show in my opinion, though I think he could've been given even better lines/calls to action. To be honest if the movie was about him I think it would've been just as good if not better. Everyone else was above average to be sure so all in all it was a really good cast.
I think as a whole the movie is kind of a mish mash but the characters are fairly vibrant and the performances vault it into "good" territory. I know I typed more about the bad than the good but again I enjoyed what the actors turned out in this one very much, which more than made up for what I felt was a jagged script.