Another Great Tarantino Film. Who Knew?

Rating: 10/10 (22 May 2016)

Django Unchained is written and directed by Quentin Tarantino and follows a slave named Django, played by Jamie Foxx. While Django, and some other slaves, were on their way to their new "masters" plantation, a German bounty hunter named Dr. Schultz (Christoph Waltz) stops the traveling slaves and collects Django due to his knowledge of what three wanted slave owners look like. During the process of hunting these three men, Django and Dr. Schultz go on a journey to save Django's wife, who's a slave living on a Mississippi plantation owned by the evil Calvin Candie (Leonardo Dicaprio).
Being written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, I had high hopes for Django Unchained, yet I was still surprised in almost every way. The acting, direction, script, score, and pacing all make Django Unchained a phenomenal movie, and a very enjoyable one at that. At its three hour run time, Django Unchained never stops, or even slows down, at all. Every single minute of this film keeps going, and keeps you on the edge of your seat.
Rarely does a film have a perfect script. However, in the case of Django Unchained, the script is nothing short of flawless. Every single line of dialogue is perfectly written, with thoughts of what has and what will happen throughout the film. The banter between characters, particularly Dr. Schultz and Django, is both compelling and hilarious at the same time. Each line amazingly builds suspense for what is about to come in the next scene, and the next, and so on. The script is truly fantastic, and is the best thing about Django Unchained, which is saying a lot.
The acting is also incredible. Jamie Foxx gives the performance of a life time, portraying one of the best character arcs in cinematic history. Towards the beginning of the film, Django is still a slave, and he doesn't know whether or not he should respond to white men most of the time. However, he eventually learns that he is no less than any white man, and begins to buy nicer clothing, and talk back (both respectfully and sarcastically) to white men, and becomes his own person, complete with memorable lines and a sly, bad tone to his voice.
Christoph Waltz gives one of the best supporting actor performances of all time, with great sarcasm and hilarious dialogue. Many of the lines Waltz delivered had me gut-busted laughing, thanks to both the actor and the astounding script. Leonardo Dicaprio actually gives one of the best performances of his career, playing the polite, yet ficious, Calvin Candie. His character is cruel, and has no conscience about anything he does (involving his slaves, at least), and Dicaprio plays this menace brilliantly.
Samuel L. Jackson is actually in this movie, and he plays one of Candie's slaves, yet he's somehow "above" all of the other slaves due to his abundance of time spent on Candie's plantation, self titled Candieland. He orders the other slaves, and even some white men, around, and uses the "n" word a lot. Samuel L. Jackson, of course, is amazing in this role, partly due to Tarantino writing it with him in mind.
The direction, also by Tarantino, is unexplainably fascinating. The direction reeks of older styles, with a newer vibe mixed in as well. There are many moments where the camera will zoom in twenty feet from a far off shot straight into a close up of a character's face. These great directing styles add an interesting aspect to the entire film, and make it look very nice as well. The action is also filmed very nicely, with no shaky cam or quick cuts. Each of the ridiculously violent blood splatters from a bullet wound is shown without hesitation, which adds a grotesque, yet revealing, side to Django Unchained.
The score, composed by Ennio Morricone, is also exhilarating. Each main character has his own theme, from Django to Candie, and the score gives a distinct feel to each character. The smart choice of including older western songs in the film also added to the great feel of the film. Each time Django does some "awesome" act that's noteworthy, music accompanies him as he rides off into the next scene, and makes the viewer want to pat him on the back and ride off with him.
The only issue that I could see some making for Django Unchained is the run time. Although the run time is a bit long, I ask those people: what scenes would you cut out of the film? There isn't any. The run time is lengthy, yes, but the story of Django is a long one to tell, so all support to Tarantino for making the film as long as he saw fit, because if it was any shorter, people would complain about its rushed script and plot holes, so I see the run time as fit at three hours.
Overall, Django Unchained is a fantastic film, with great direction, acting, music, and a flawless script. I'd recommend Django Unchained to anyone who can handle the over the top violence, because there is a lot.