Good, not great

Rating: 8/10 (12 March 2010)

I am not a fan of Quentin Tarantino, nor a fan of Brad Pitt. Thus, when this movie came out, I couldn't care less. However, I found this hype on the internet over one of its star, Christoph Waltz whom I've never heard before. And I was like, "Okay, I need to see this movie. I need to know what it is with this guy that everyone is so crazy about him". Unfortunately, I didn't have the chance to see it on theaters. And then time passed by. I forgot about it, until the Oscars last week when Christoph Waltz was awarded Best Supporting Actor. So, I rented it. And boy, am I not disappointed! He was amazing! It's been a while since I saw that kind of performance. His Colonel Landa was the second Nazi character I fell in love with after Ralph Fiennes's Amon Goeth. I kinda regret that it took me so long to watch it. Well, better late than never.
However, I couldn't feel the same about the movie. Yes, it's a good movie, but not a great one. My first, and prime, complain would be the content. It had smart and funny dialogs. But it's supposed to be about the Basterds! I meant, that is the title, right? "Inglourious Basterds". Yet, I didn't see much about them. I didn't feel much their influences to the movie as a whole and to other characters. I think it should be entitled "Inglourious Basterds, Colonel Hans Landa, and Shosanna Dreyfus", instead. Because that was what I found. As characters, Colonel Landa and Shosanna (Melanie Laurent) were in equal position as the Basterds in this movie. If only the Basterds appeared in the very first session rather than Colonel Landa, if only there was a direct encounter between them and Shosanna, if only there was more background about them, if only the movie showed more the effects of Basterds' actions to the Nazi, probably I could feel them more.
My second complain would be the pace. I usually enjoy fast-paced movie. Well, not this one. It was like I was offered with these delicious foods, but they were taken away from me immediately before I could even grab a bite. I didn't have the opportunity to gain some sort of emotion. Yes, I almost cried when Perrier LaPadite (Denis Menochet) had no choice but to hand Shosanna's family over to Landa. But that was it.
And there's so many things left unexplained. For example, how did Shosanna meet the "uncle" and "aunt" who later bequeathed her the cinema? In the end, I enjoyed it more for the acting performances. Especially, of course, Christoph Waltz. The other that caught my attention were Melanie Laurent, Diane Kruger, Denis Menochet, Daniel Brühl and Til Schweiger.
Despite all my complains, the movie is worth to watch. I would have regret it more if I didn't.