The ultimate cinema basted is back but is it cinema bliss or a total miss?

Rating: 6/10 (25 August 2009)

It's been a long time coming, sure some might argue that Kill Bill isn't a total mess, but for a lot of people Quentin Tarentino hasn't made a good film since Jackie Brown. Does Inglourious Basterds mark his triumphant return as king or does it just dig his grave deeper? The story takes place in Nazi occupied France and a young Jewish refugee Shosanna Dreyfus witnesses the slaughter of her family by Colonel Hans Landa. Narrowly escaping with her life, she plots her revenge several years later when German war hero Fredrick Zoller quickly takes an interest in her and arranges an illustrious movie premiere at the theatre she now runs. With the promise of every major Nazi officer in attendance, the event catches the attention of the "Basterds", a group of Jewish-American guerrilla soldiers led by the ruthless Lt. Aldo Raine. As the relentless executioners advance and the conspiring young girl's plans are set in motion, their paths will cross for a fateful evening that will shake the very annals of history.
Let's face it, the first trailer for this was terrible. It looked and sounded like kill Bill the World War II version, and true to formula it is. Oddly enough however that works to the films advantage rather than as a handicap. In Kill Bill the endless homage and references were almost unbearable. Any fan of The Shaw Brothers or Lady Snowblood could see from the second that film started who and what he was ripping off, which wouldn't have been a problem if it had been done well. reservoir Dogs, fantastic movie, total rip off of the movie "City on Fire". Why is it so highly touted as one of the best movies of all time? It's because Tarentino knew how to improve on the formula. With Kill Bill he did nothing but homage. Granted Inglorious Basterds isn't a fantastic movie, it's enjoyable, funny and wonderfully acted but in ten years time nobody will be referring to it as a classic. It has a lot going for it, the story is always engaging and takes several highly amusing twists that you don't see coming.
So why doesn't it entirely work? For many of the same reasons Kill Bill didn't work. Tarentino is really smart about knowing what just the right about of good is. He never overdoes it and when it's good it's fantastic. That said the film features some scenes of just monotony, mostly when Eli Roth rears his head but in a movie this well polished the moments of low grade stuff sticks out a mile. Pitt is passable as Lt. Aldo Raine but it's his co star Christoph Waltz WHO BRINGS THE GOOD. He is smart, edgy and most important absolutely hysterical. What it lacks is the texture of felt life; to put it another way, you don't believe a word of it. To fans of "pure" cinema this might not matter, because the film creates a world unto itself; it is about technique and spatial understanding, not realism. (The same defence used to be deployed by fans of Brian De Palma). But lacking that human dimension, the QT effect will always come up short. He's a great film encyclopaedist, which is somewhat different from a great film-maker.
QT's bullet-speed banter is back (although without the modern pop references, obviously), firing out a hail of comedy moments, with rat-a-tat regularity. The opening act feels like a spaghetti western, as we're introduced to the film's star man, Nazi officer and ace 'Jew hunter' Landa (Christoph Waltz's scene-stealing moments are brimming with malice and ominous humour), before picking up pace as a war flick with the unleashing of the Basterds, a brutal Dirty Dozen who carve swastikas onto the faces of their foes. The director's signature flourishes – close-ups of female feet, biting barroom banter and the Mexican stand-off – all get a fresh and funny update. The soundtrack's decent, too.
Verdict: Tarentino's back but not quite on top form. This is undoubtedly the best film he has made this decade but something feels out of place whether it be the underuse of the bastards or the stilted first act this is no Pulp Fiction. It is, however, a good film full of, as I like to put it "F*ck Yeahs". it will have you hooting and hollering until the final credits roll. The picture contains all the things his fans like about Tarantino -- the wit, the audacity but at the very same time it leaves in everything we don't favour him for. Hopefully next time he can iron out the wrinkles. 3/5.