Tarantino Unchained

Rating: 9/10 (15 September 2015)

This is one of my favorite movie this year. Thank Tarantino for giving me two short but happy hours of surprise and excitement. I've heard a lot about this film before, but never had a chance to watch it until now. Tarantino's work never disappoints me before and yet He brings us another masterpiece of his film fantasy.
Just to make it clear, I am not really a big fan of "Westerns", whether it is American Western or Spaghetti Western. The last Western I remembered is still "No Country For Old Man". However, I am a big lover of Rockstar's classic game, "Red Dead: Redemption". After watching this film, it just gave me an urge to play the game from start once again.
First, I'd like to share my opinions on this film from an overall perspective, then shift our focus on the performance of the cast.
To beginning, I like Tarantino's version of aesthetics of violence, thus every minute of the film is of great joy to me. Watching gun blazing like fire spitting, blood splashing like a fountain and people hit by bullets like a watermelon, not to mention the splendid explosion scenes, makes my blood burning and heart pumping fast. Every aspect of violence scene is done well and some horseback riding scene is excellent. I always tend to think Tarantino creates films in a way like a kid playing with his toy as he can do whatever he likes. As a result, in the making of this film, Tarantino's imagination is like an unchained horse running wild.
As is expected, Tarantino's film always comes with great music. Every piece of music used in this movie has the mark of his unique taste. If we listen to these music separately, most of them would feel special, some even odd. But when put under the context of movie, every single piece of music just blend in with background and it surprises us to realize that they are in perfect harmony with each other. It always gives me great pleasure to listen the background music as the movie progresses, and I smile every time when I don't understand why the music feels so right in the movie. But there is only one problem, the rap songs. Is it just me or the rap is really out of place? It always bounce me out of the movie. Not that the raps are bad, but whenever it is played, it just don't feel so "western" anymore. But anyway, it could be just me.
Although this film enjoys considerable merits, it's not flawless. As I said, Tarantino's imagination is unchained. But as a result, it also lacks direction or focus. As I quote from another high voted review, "I enjoy every minute of it, but I could never shake the feeling of how messy and thrown together it all feels"(Reference Link). For example, the search for the Britle Brothers which I initially thought to be the centerpiece of the film ends too fast. I anticipated it to last at least half an hour before Django and Dr.Schultz complete their first mission. However, it ends in minutes. It would be episodic if it is more detailed. Beyond this, the film ending seems too smooth for Django, even a little unreal. For example, it is totally unreasonable for Stephen the butler and Lara the hostess to give Django away to a railway company when they have a chance to finish him. For a merciless and skilled bounty hunter like Django, he is certain to come back and take his revenge. He kills a dozen of fully armed slave overseers within minutes, how can you feel safe when he is in custody of anyone? Nevertheless, a few flaws can not belittle many virtues of the film. Djanglo Unchained still remains to be a great movie, so I will rate it 9 out of 10 honestly.
Although this film has a genius director and a well-written script, it still can't become a classic without its wonderful cast.
First of all, Dr.King Schultz played by Christoph Waltz is my favorite character. Christoph gave great performance in this movie. as he did in "Inglorious Bastards". Though Dr.Schultz is a merciless bounty hunter, but he deeply despises slavery.
Many other wonderful performance are present in this movie as well. Another actor that stands out of the cast is Leanardo Dicaprio. His brilliant performance portrayed a seasoned and cruel slaver with greed and hypocrisy. Jamei Foxx as the main lead, though shadowed by the above two actors, still gives great performance. Though at first he is not comfortable in Django's shoes, but once he finds his foot, he does a fantastic job walking the thin line between empathetic and sadistic. I think he has a special talent for comedy, because it feel extremely funny when he tries to play serious, like when Django tries to give the slaves a piece of his mind in order not to "break his character". As a subtle actor, He is also able to offer audience a peek into Django's emotions with a little changes in his expression or gesture. Summel L. Jackson's performance as the black butler Stephen is also outstanding. Stephen is obviously more experienced than Dandie. After nearly 70 years of torturing slaves, he completely betrayed his race and degenerated into a lick-spittle for the slavers. Djanglo calls him "snowball" not only because his hair whitened because of age, but also because he is a "white" slaver with a black face. The audience hates Stephen more than Dandie, so it gives me great joy to see Djanglo put Stephen into justice.
In summary, "Django: Unchained" is a must-see for a Tarantino fun and anyone who is looking for a western with thrilling action and funny comedy.