Mostly Standard Recent Tarantino Revenge Fantasy

Rating: 8/10 (10 March 2013)

Why you shouldn't see it:
If you've seen Inglourious Basterds and thought once was enough, you're not likely to find much worth reviewing here. This is another of Quentin Tarantino's fantasy revenge flicks, of the sub- genre that rails on systemic injustices.
Beyond that, there are a number of pretty obvious reasons that will probably jump out at you right off the bat, even if you haven't seen the movie. Most of these reasons boil down to whether or not you are comfortable with confronting humanity's occasionally (or frequently, if it's the deep south in the 1850's) ugly nature. This is a movie that makes white Americans uncomfortable with being white Americans in much the same way that Basterds probably made German non-Jews uncomfortable with being German non-Jews.
This film unabashedly displays outrageous racism and almost cartoonish violence (frequently using the high visual contrast of bright red blood spattering on bright white set pieces). Two things that, like it or not, are prevalent recurrences in the way mankind has conducted itself through the years. If you like to close your eyes, cover your ears, and sing "The Song That Never Ends" when you're confronted with either of these things, because you like to think happy thoughts about the good ways in which people treat each other, this movie is not for you, and you will likely find it a tremendous waste of your time. Unless you really like singing that particular song, I guess.
Why you should see it:
It should be noted, however, that the way that Django and Basterds make an individual want to check his cultural baggage at the door is wholly unrelated to the way in which movies like Amistad and Schindler's List do the same thing. While the two Spielberg movies make you take a magnifying glass to our past somewhat against your will, the two Tarantino movies are more like your charismatic buddy who comes along and says, "Hey, check this out."
Django takes American slavery, shines a bright light on it, and hands it a microphone so that it has the opportunity to show what it's about. In a way that possibly only Tarantino can do it, the movie takes a dark subject matter and turns it so ridiculous that the audience can't help but have fun with it. Everyone in the theater found a measure of satisfaction each and every time a slaver died, regardless of the colors involved. The movie also adds a sort of vindication for those of you who saw Basterds and would have rooted for Colonel Hans Landa if not for your disparate stances on the right of Jewish people to remain living. Pretty much the same character seems to travel back in time to strangely play a more (his name is Dr. King) or less (he's a white German) proto civil rights advocate whom you can really get behind and cheer along.
There are a couple enjoyable moments that sort of jarringly take you out of the main thread of the story with their surprising cameos and/or humorous observations on otherwise revolting situations. I'm not necessarily a fan of Jamie Foxx or Christoph Waltz, as I find the former unmemorable and the latter both lacking in range and somewhat creepy in the one role that he has settled into. But in this movie, Foxx does a good job of taking his dynamic role and morphing the character throughout the course of his story arc, and Waltz is more fun when he's "on your side" (which, ironically, is the side that kills people like you if you're white). I will say, however, that the acting highlight of the movie for me is Leonardo DiCaprio going largely against his type of controlled and almost closed characters in other movies to boisterous and cartoonishly evil in this one.
In Short:
I had originally started writing this post by going on a long rant about Quentin Tarantino when I realized I hadn't really said anything about the movie itself. And maybe that's the point. Most of you already have a pretty good idea whether or not you enjoy Tarantino movies. I ended up giving this one an 8 out of 10, and I recommend it as a good watch.
Exceptions to the recommendation: if you're someone who knows for sure that you just don't appreciate QT's work (which probably means that you just don't appreciate film and the history thereof (and may God have mercy on your soul)); if you're one of those aforementioned people who sometimes struggles with harsh realities; if you're someone who sometimes struggles with revenge fantasies; if you hate seeing Quentin Tarantino try (active word) to act; if you're a white person who sometimes forgets to apply your filter and uncontrollably repeats things that you think are funny; or, by extension, if you're an impressionable young child... hold off for a bit, and I'll explain when you're older.