Just plain glorious!

Rating: 9/10 (25 August 2009)

I saw Inglourious Basterds on Sunday, and after seeing several negative reviews I wasn't really sure what to expect.
Quite simply put, this film is incredible.
The casting is fantastic, the dialogue is as sharp as you would expect from Tarantino and the plot is superb.
There is the usual mix of suspense and humour, with a liberal serving of violence as well.
I have seen some complaints about there being too much dialogue, but I felt that Tarantino was actually a bit more reserved than usual, and seems to have resisted filling scenes with 'pointless' dialogue. For example, I fast-forwarded through several 'talking' scenes of Death Proof without losing any of the plot, but I wouldn't dream of skipping any scenes of Basterds when it comes out on DVD.
My only complaint would be the casting of Mike Myers. Simply because his British accent reminded me too much of Austin Powers, and he seemed to be concentrating so hard on his accent that the delivery of his lines was poor. I think he was an unnecessary addition to the cast, and any number of British actors could have played the part better.
I think the top performance has to go to Christoph Waltz as Hans Landa, with Melanie Laurent coming a close second as Shosanna.
Brad Pitt as Aldo Raine is comically brilliant and, personally, I would have liked to see more of him. Also, his Italian accent is pure genius!
Basically, I can't recommend this film highly enough. No, it's not remotely historically accurate, but it doesn't need to be. And yes, potentially the title Inglourious Basterds is misleading since the plot doesn't really centre around the Basterds at all (perhaps just Tarantino's desire for a controversial title). However, it is brilliantly written, brilliantly acted (Mike Myers aside) and brilliantly enjoyable.
Go and see it and make up your own mind, you won't regret it.