Not Very Glorious But Passable To An Extent

Rating: Null/10 (8 December 2009)

So much hype but does the film deliver on its promises? Not exactly. Tarantino has managed to capture the European essence in his film. The sets, the landscapes, the costumes, the actors and the camera-work that gives a spacious feel of old Europe are well used. The film also has a polished look with some fine cinematography and background score. Most of Tarantino's films are ridden on dialogue and violence. 'Inglourious Basterds' is no exception but here he fails to create a balance unlike in his previous works ranging from 'Pulp Fiction' to 'Deathproof' where he succeeded in combining the two. Here, the dialogues are very long but most of the time they lack the meat and after some point they lose momentum. As someone who enjoys violence in movies, 'Inglourious Basterds' fails to deliver on that count too. For me the violence has to have some relevance to the story but here it appears a little out of place and safe (when compared to his other works). I didn't find the characters to be well developed either but some of the acting namely by a tortured Mélanie Laurent and a hateful Christoph Waltz was very good. Diane Kruger too manages to stand out in a brief role. Brad Pitt fails to impress. Daniel Brühl is passable. Overall, in my opinion, 'Inglourious Basterds' is a strictly average film mainly lifted by fine execution and a few notable sequences like the fire scene and the shootout in the bar.