Bold, brutal and brilliant.

Rating: 9/10 (22 May 2014)

Even though the title is virtually identical to Enzo G. Castellari's 1978 Italian warsploitation 'classic' The Inglourious Bastards, Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds is most definitely NOT a remake. Far from it. Not only is it one of Tarantino's more original efforts to date, but it also one of his best films for a long time, a riveting tale of derring-do that features plenty of everything that made his first two movies such a success: great dialogue, wonderful performances (Christoph Waltz is brilliant, as is an almost unrecognisable Mike Myers), excellent pacing, impressive direction, explosive violence, fantastic use of music, and more than a few playful visual touches of the kind that only Quentin seems to be able to get away with.
Despite being fairly talky in places, with the bulk of the dialogue spoken in either German or French (and subtitled in English), the film is a thoroughly absorbing experience, with not a boring moment in its entire 153 minutes. The long conversational scenes are brilliantly executed and entertaining in their own right, but they also serve to make the violence seem even more explosive and brutal when it happens. And boy, is it nasty when it wants to be, with bloody scalpings, repeated baseball bat blows to the skull, and point-blank gunshots to the nether regions amongst the graphic carnage on display.
It's not all typically cool Tarantino monologues and OTT gore, though: in an extremely bold move, the writer/director eventually steers events into fantastical territory, rewriting history to suit his whims. Those who have slated the film for its lack of historical accuracy are completely missing the point: Quentin is giving us his version of events, entertainment being the number one priority, facts be damned. It's daring movie-making and a whole lot of fun when approached with the right attitude.