HK Neo Reviews: Inglourious Basterds

Rating: 9/10 (1 September 2009)

Tagline: Christoph Waltz steals the show and Tarantino on the mark once again Review by Neo: It is no surprise that the talented Quentin Tarantino love movies and his ability is needless to be discussed. Tarantino have a unique knack of bringing the best out of actors, filming them more beautiful than they should be. For actresses, there is usually an element of classic beauty in his films and for actors; they will be transformed into ultra cool characters that are much larger than life. For me personally, I have basically grew up on Tarantino's films from Pulp Fiction to Kill Bill or the lesser lights in Death Proof, there is no denying that he is the man for films that gets better in repeated viewings. Here, he created and re-launched the career of little known, Christoph Waltz, who undoubtedly steals the spotlight from the likes of Brat Pitt and seamlessly overplayed his character by blowing out of proportion, in an immensely fun, engaging, interesting and exaggerated display of good overacting acting. As much as Waltz deserves his best actor at the recent Cannes Film Festival, much credit should be shared with the director Tarantino for creating such a wondrous movie.
Basically the movie goes like this: It's a Tarantino movie, so making sense is not the key issue and being historically correct is never a matter of concern. So it is the warring period of the Nazis and in the midst of their occupation of everyone else in Europe, there exists a cult from America namely the Bastards. Led by Brad Pitt, the Bastards aim to kill and slaughter as many Nazis as humanely possible. One of the Nazi's Jew detector played by Christoph Waltz, is both smart and cunning. Adding to the mix is a cinema owner who is a former Jew with a vengeance on the agenda. So don't storm in looking for coherence, but rather indulge in the cleverly written dialogue, interactive performances and some ingenious directing from Tarantino.
Mr. Christoph Waltz, what a wonderful and impeccable performance that was. For once, someone is able to play with his character in a manner that ends up overshadowing the likes of Brad Pitt. Waltz is cunning, smart, ingenious, serious, funny, selfish, undermining, understated, indiscernible and basically amazing character to watch and endure. The opening scene set up the tone, his hideous smile, gave his character the looks and the mannerism of both disband and likable villain at the same time. His faceoff with Pitt at the cinema and at the cocktail bar was simply joyous to watch. Waltz easily steals and chews every moment he is on screen and one of the main ingredients as to why this Tarantino's film will work and succeed in doing so.
Boy, personally I was quite unimpressed by Pitt's performance, as he is neither memorable nor important to the story. Perhaps, Tarantino was just using his character to draw everyone of those 70 million US Box Office sits, but in reality, Pitt is simply nothing more than a glorified cameo. Diane Kruger is beaut to inhale and her scenes were constantly coated with candies. However, I was more impressed by French actress Mélanie Laurent; she shines through her role in both acting wise and external wise. It is always a joy to watch a fresh new talent and in Laurent, Tarantino have uncovered a piece of cinematic gem. There is the sense of classic beauty in her performance that made her character all the more relatable and enjoyable.
All in all, Inglourious Basterds is one heck of a smart and good film. It is most certainly a film that I plan to indulge within a second or even a third time. Tarantino have always been a brilliant director and needless to say, he has once again created something for all movie lovers. The mannerism, the style, the pacing, the dialogue, the classic beauts, Inglourious Basterds have all the hallmarks of a good intelligent movie and in that Tarantino manages to hits all the right buttons. When the performance of Waltz alone is already worthy of the price of admission, it is needless to say that Inglourious Basterds comes highly recommended on my personal behalf  (Neo 2009)
I rate it 9/10

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