Bring on the hate

Rating: 4/10 (5 October 2009)

I might be one of the only people crying foul but aren't we getting diminishing returns with Tarantino since Kill Bill 2 ? I was majorly disappointed with Inglourious Basterds. I found the film weak, unsatisfying and plain long. It seems that Tarantino is writing longer and longer (and longer) conversation pieces or monologues about mundane or inane subjects with a very short (or no) payoff at the end. In his earlier filmography, those parts used to be clever, somewhat brilliant despite their outward superficiality but he did limit them, pace them better and they were nowhere near as self-indulgent as in Basterds. He relies on the quality of his actors to keep our collective interest but that can only go so far. I suppose those drawn-out conversations can build up a certain tension if you're patient enough and that Tarantino delights in doing the unexpected even with characters you think might be major. I'll give him some credit for subverting usual movie clichés, which might be due to his extensive movie knowledge.
Regarding the featured Basterds commando, they were a disappointment. Besides their leader (Brad Pitt's character) who sounds and looks more like a southern redneck than a Jewish American, the other members of the commando have extremely little screen time, even less talking time and zero personality. Being angry and killing Nazis with a baseball bat is not good characterization. If you were expecting some kind of over-the-top revenge trip on Nazis by the Jews, you'll get very little satisfaction even at the end as the Jews themselves are basically superfluous. I would argue that the German characters shown here are, in general, more interesting, likable and/or multifaceted. You almost feel sorry for some of them (which perhaps was Tarentino's intention but then he should have worked more on the Jewish characters to compensate). The actions scenes are usually quick and cringe-worthy with a longer set-piece at the end that was not particularly exhilarating or well shot. I know violence in real life is probably like that but their shortness was accentuated by the very static overly long conversations.
The most memorable character by far is the SS colonel Hans Landa. Beyond his amazing linguistic skills (my native language is french and his was very good), you'll enjoy his suave friendly unpredictable antics. He manages to make extremely long conversations somewhat bearable through sheer screen presence. I also liked very much Brad Pitt's enthusiastic and fun portrayal of Aldo Raine even though he's caricatured and not particularly believable. The 2 characters above are mostly responsible for the few funny bits. The cast in general was very good especially the 2 female leading roles. Certain trends (or trademarks) in Tarentino's film-making are getting worse and you should avoid this if you're looking for great action, comedy or war film unless you're really keen on overlong Tarentino-type dialogue and want to see great multilingual acting.
Rating: 4 out of 10