Good and Bad WW2 Comic Book Fantasy

Rating: 7/10 (14 January 2010)

I'm a big fan of Tarantino movies, or at least the best of them such as Pulp Fiction and Jackie Brown. I believe him to be a man who genuinely loves cinema, which is a pretty good start. So how does this stack up? Well, I guess that it left me with mixed feelings. The acting is actually pretty good and the interesting cast give a good account of themselves. The story is obviously ridiculous. I don't believe that QT expects it to be taken seriously. This is comic book cinema with comic book characters, good guys and bad guys. There is a fair amount of graphic violence, maybe a little more than was necessary to make the point. I think the problem I had was that the whole thing was too much of a joke, the kind that sounds good fun after a night out with friends but which usually you realise isn't going to that funny when you review it in the cold (sober) light of day. This may sound pretentious but given that we know QT can make outstanding memorable movies, is this elaborate joke a little over the top and a waste of time and resources? On the other hand, it kept me glued to the screen for almost two and half hours, which is no mean feat. Also, I find it interesting to speculate - what if this was a new low budget movie by a director that no one had heard of previously? Answer I suspect - instant cult classic. Maybe I'm foolish not to join in and enjoy the joke more but I have a nagging feeling this will be forgotten quite quickly.