Hilarious, uncompromisingly brutal, but delivers on all fronts

Rating: 8/10 (13 January 2013)

A spaghetti western/blaxploitation mash-up from the mind of Quentin Tarantino?
SOLD!
And yet there I was, sitting through the nerve-wracking theater-going experience that was "Django Unchained". How Tarantino moves from moments of white-knuckled tension to other moments of sheer hilarity and utter enjoyment just boggle the mind. He makes it seem so effortless, and at the same time hard to stomach.
Watching this movie made me wonder what exactly attracted this man to such a, shall we say, unattractive subject as slavery. I mean, every single horrible aspect of the material is right there, in-your-face and highly unpleasant. Much of this movie (not even the violence, really, which was typically "excessive-to-the-point-of-comical" Tarantino) was hard to sit through, with Tarantino trading his his trademark "f-bomb a minute" for the "n-bomb a minute" dialogue. But that's what makes the ending so damn gratifying. To see the horrors of what Django has to go through (and the horrific world in which he lives) just makes it that much more satisfying when he finally shows up and delivers a serious dose of ass-kicking to all involved.
Seemingly in spite of the uncomfortable subject, "Django Unchained" was a hell of a good time at the movies. I haven't laughed so hard in so long as I did during the "bag" scene (complete with unexpectedly hilarious Jonah Hill appearance). The violence is the fist-pumping sort, that of the crowd-pleaser variety.
And it's one hell of a well-acted movie. Jamie Foxx lends a tortured badassery to the title role, while everyone from the supporting cast to Don Johnson is noteworthy. DiCaprio gives a deliciously unhinged performance (it's worth seeing, believe me). And Samuel L. Jackson plays a character of such despicability that it's nothing less than shocking. It took way too long for someone to kill that guy. But it's Christoph Waltz who makes this movie, for me. The guy is extraordinary. His wonderfully dark humor and playful delivery just made him a sheer pleasure to watch. I couldn't take my eyes off the man. He was electric. It might be my favorite performance in a Tarantino movie, though I haven't seen him in "Inglorious Basterds" yet.
Almost three hours long, and definitely not a boring movie. I went in with high hopes, and wasn't disappointed. Just an incredible movie, harsher aspects and all.
8/10