Slightly Flawed But It's Strong Enough To Be Not Missed

Rating: 7/10 (15 January 2014)

Finally, Tarantino has created a film that he has been paying homage to for so many years. Django Unchained is Tarantino's 7th film and still hasn't lost his touch. Sadly Django Unchained is not perfect, as it has problems.
Django Unchained follows the same approach that was applied to Kill Bill, driven by a clear end goal and uses a linear approach in telling it's story, despite a few flashbacks. Though similar, it is a major improvement from Kill Bill as Tarantino keeps our attention with it's quirky characters. Characters in this film are definitely a much needed depth, with a richer backstory, in comparison to his previous films. The film is definitely a big film, with a story that spans on long periods of time and creating personal growth for the protagonist. It would have been more interesting, if Django Unchained explores more of his personal and physical journey of becoming a bounty hunter. The film's dialogue is quite fun and it plays around with the dialogue found in classic Westerns. I did enjoy the fact that Tarantino has written two characters that clash in personality, Schultz and Candie, as their conversations with one another especially towards the end was thrilling to watch. Great dialogue is being written for Schultz and Candie as they represent the most over the top characters in the film, aside from Samuel L. Jackson's character.
Django Unchained tackles the genre that Tarantino seems to be in love with the most, and it seems like this is a film he has always wanted to tell but because this is a Tarantino film, it doesn't stay on course with the traditional Westerns by exploiting a topic that is barely touched on in the genre or at least not commonplace within the mainstream films, slavery. This does make the film a bit controversial as not everyone can be comfortable with the topic and even to the point of being offended. Both Inglourious Basterds and this film, touch on history but they don't ever become a social commentary or it never places the situation on trial, rather it is just used as a backdrop. Tarantino avoids having his characters become a representation of the cultures within that era. If you want to watch a film that touches on these themes with depth and fueled by a message, then watch Steve McQueen's 12 Years A Slave, but if you want to see a fun film then watch Django Unchained. This film in a way follows Kill Bill's approach in it's story, with a clear end goal, but this film balances the style and substance much better with it being consisted throughout the entire film. Django Unchained strays away from Tarantino's common use of the non-linear narrative and leans on to the conventional 3 act approach but keeping it feeling fresh due to his style. There are 2 scenes that were done so well that they deserve a mention, these scenes are the KKK segment and the Dining Room scene with the principal characters.
Robert Richardson returns to work with Tarantino and their collaboration always seems to give off positive results and this is mainly due to the understanding of each other's vision. Both have created a look that is reminiscent of the classic Westerns, using a warm palette to create the atmosphere and softer shots, in order to have the audience feel immersed to the era. The film also contains the quick zooms and close ups that were found in the films that this is paying homage to. With each subsequent film, Tarantino's budget and trust from the studios seem to rise which allows him to be ambitious in his work using multiple locations to film and build up faithful and detailed production sets. As the characters in this film have much more depth than Tarantino's previous film, the photography was able to convey that depth to these characters which then sells the character's motivations.
Similarly to his previous film, Tarantino has taken a soundtrack approach rather than hiring a composer to create an original score for the film. The tracks he chose though are score driven and again chooses the tracks that are either from Morricone or at least similar. That does allow the film to feel like a Leone film at times. Tarantino interestingly enough has used Hip-Hop/Rap music on certain moments but it comes off more as humorous, which allows the audience to not take the film too seriously and maintaining that fun upbeat tone.
Django Unchained may not be an ensemble film like Inglourious Basterds but this is due to the story being a bit more grounded and personal. Jamie Foxx as Django was a decent choice but he didn't really create something astonishing here with the character or maybe he was severely overshadowed by the acting performances from Waltz and DiCaprio. This is definitely the best that I have seen from Kerry Washington but it doesn't seem to be enough for me to highly appreciate it. Christoph Waltz and Leonardo DiCaprio on the other hand was a stand out in this film delivering performances that will always be remembered when people look back at their filmography. Waltz was able to come off as charming which makes him so likable and he delivers his lines with amazing grace. DiCaprio creates this menacing character but at the same time able to give off a sense that he is a phony and a bit of a try hard. Samuel L Jackson was great in this, with an introduction to a character that will leave you surprised on how unlikable this person is.
Django Unchained is a fun Western film that I have been waiting for him to make since he started his film career. It contains amazing performances and great direction from Quentin Tarantino. Yes, Django Unchained could have been better but it has enough great moments for this to be in the stronger side in the director's filmography.