It is a very impressive and timely return to form for the director.

Rating: 9/10 (6 September 2009)

Inglourious Basterds is a fictional account of World War II and is divided into several chapters. The first of these introduces us to the Jew Hunter (Christoph Waltz), Col. Hans Landa, a detective-like Nazi who specialises in tracking down Jews that are hiding throughout France. The other stories involve Shosanna Dreyfus (Mélanie Laurent), a French woman who has inherited a cinema after the murder of her family, and the Basterds a group of Allied soldiers led by Lt Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) who have become notorious for their brutal executions and scalping of Nazi soldiers. These threads come together when Dreyfus meets a Nazi actor whose new film will be premiering, along with the German Reich, at her cinema. Both Dreyfus and the Basterds hatch separate plots to blow up the cinema.
After the misfire of Death Proof, Quentin Tarantino's contribution to Grindhouse, one had to question whether one of the most influential directors of the nineties had run his course. Fortunately, Inglourious Basterds not only represents Tarantino's return to form but he has developed what could be one of the most creative films of the year. The title of the film remains as a homage to the Italian picture, Quel maledetto treno blindato – The Inglourious Bastards. The difference between that film and Tarantino's Bastards is that this is both a parody and a homage to the very brand of cinema that Tarantino's loves himself.
His comic book version of World War II is thickly wrapped in a rapidly shifting tone of drama, cynicism, satire and comedy. The contrast between the intense opening scenes of the Jew Hunter interrogating a farmer, to others that feature Brad Pitt's wonderful comic timing as Lt. Aldo Raine, makes the film a complete roller-coaster of emotions for the audience. Given the changes in tone, along with the intensity of Tarantino's trademark lengthy dialogue sequences, the impact of the ultra violence has been dramatically increased, perhaps more so than any of his previous films. Aiding a great deal of the tension of these scenes are the performances. All of the actors are impressive, particularly in the timing of some very funny dialogue. Brad Pitt is a standout as the squared jawed Raine but Christoph Waltz steals his thunder, wholly creepy as the Jew Hunter. His character with his wry smile is almost proud of the most heinous things he is doing. He is really impressive.
While many of the dialogue sequences are extremely long, one of the biggest improvements over Death Proof is that many of these conversations are integrated around some form of dramatic irony and tension – they are no longer as pointless as they were in the past. Just as we begin to wonder how long the Jew Hunter will interrogate the farmer for example, the camera slowly submerges beneath the floorboards to reveal to the audience a Jewish girl hiding and covering her mouth to not make a sound.
The film is also bolstered by Tarantino's pop culture references, allowing Inglourious Basterds to act as a satire of cinema itself. From the inclusion of the French cinema itself, a game of celebrity heads, to the casting of Brad Pitt, Mike Myers, Eli Roth and Samuel L Jackson in an unbilled narration, we are constantly reminded that this is a film and one that is entirely conscious of what it is: highly dramatic, over the top and ultra violent. As the Nazis sit back, clapping and cheering the onslaught on their own screen in the film, we know that this is indeed a continuation of Tarantino's fascination with violence as one of the most fun things to watch. These references seem to be a lot stronger and more prominent here than in previous films and really strengthen his brand of satire. He is a very clever filmmaker.
The self-awareness of Inglourious Basterds allows it to be one of the most unique experiences of the year and a completely fresh take on many of the clichés of the World War II genre. Although the brief but ultra violence may deter some, there is a sharper and cleverer film at work here, one that is often very funny and entirely conscious of its audience's expectations for Tarantino's work. It is a very impressive and timely return to form for the director.