A brutal and comedic revenge story with amazing acting performances.

Rating: 8/10 (29 October 2017)

Django Unchained Review
The American Western film genre was lacking a strong and heroic black protagonist. Django Unchained fills that gap and then some with a well-done performance by Jamie Foxx as Django. As he is tough, independent, and charming character that perfectly fulfills Western gunslinger role. Django has become an iconic Western character up there with the likes of the characters played by Clint Eastwood and John Wayne. Django is a worthy gun slinging hero for the 21st century.
Django begin the film as a slave, but with the help of a German bounty hunter Schultz, played by Christopher Waltz, Django gets his freedom in support for information to complete a bounty out on the Brittle Brothers. Django eventually becomes a bounty hunter himself and sets out to both get revenge for his years as a slave and rescue his wife Broomhilda, played by Kerry Washington, from a Southern plantation owner Candie, played by Leonardo di Caprio.
The star studded cast fits into their roles with perfection. Each acting performance is superb. Jamie Foxx who begins as a low talking slave arcs into one of most iconic gun slinging figures in American Western film. As for Di Caprio, he plays his most unlikeable character yet. I would argue, however, that Django Unchained is one of his best performances as an actor. Next Waltz also again delivers yet another quality performance to match his role in Inglorious Bastards. It seems that Tarrentino brings the best out of him. Further, worth noting is that the lesser known Don Johnson as "Big Daddy" Bennet also shines as he is somehow able to master both being comedic and grossly racist.
However, as good as all the acting performances are, it is Samuel L. Jackson, as Stephen a slave who thinks he is better than all the other slaves, who truly rocks this movie. You will forget that it is even Jackson in the movie as Jackson, who usually plays strong characters like a Jedi master in Star Wars or a well-spoken gangster in Pulp Fiction, transform into a pathetic creep, who not only keeps himself bound to servitude but also his other fellow slaves.
The film like Inglorious Bastards before it is a historical revenge film about the injustices against a minority group. In Inglorious Bastards it was the Jews getting revenge against Nazi Germany and in Django Unchained it is African Americans getting revenge against the American South for its participation in slavery and racism. What Tarrentino can do so well is highlight a serious topic but at the same time be able to deliver some humorous moments (the scene with the masks being the most notable). Django Unchained like a lot of Tarrentino's works can mix the brutal and the humorous so well. If you love Tarrentino's past works you will also really like this film.
The film has two flaws. The first is that there is very little arc by the supporting characters in the film. If a character was good in the beginning they were good till the end and vice versa. Unlike Tarrentino's best work Pulp Fiction none of the characters seem very deep and layered. Rather, instead the characters in the film although memorable go through very little transformation. This makes Django Unchained lack a deeper meaning and seem to predictable compared to what can be found in Pulp Fiction. Secondly, the film I think wastes the opportunity to use Kerry Washington to her fullest capabilities. She is a talented actor and deserved more on-screen time to build up her character and relationship with Django.