Beautifully crafted, but pointless violence mars a great film

Rating: 7/10 (1 November 2019)

What can I say? Tarantino is so talented, has so much fun, yet his penchant for over-the-top revenge violence has, over his last several films, begun to feel like a serious crutch.
I almost feel like his film is decades too late. And that this sort of violence glorification - regardless of the director's intentions, good nature, the fact Sharon is 'spared' etc etc - is now well past its prime, and spoils the otherwise clever, good spirited vibe. It is also completely predictable. Morally, never mind, we have long crossed the threshold of questioning a mainstream film on its propensity for hardcore violence, but that doesn't mean one has to enjoy it, or pay money for it.
So, sadly, I really enjoyed Â¾ of this film, and hated the rest.
Still, this is probably Tarantino's best film since Inglorious Basterds, but none of his films past Kill Bill Vol 2 have been as good as before. Perhaps it is because his editor died tragically, that a certain restraint has been lost, but his films used to be a lot tighter - RD, Pulp and Jackie Brown are still masterful studies in cinematic restraint, without sacrificing an iota of entertainment value. His more recent outings have been sprawling, obsessed with themselves, intensely violent, and all seem to be following a formula which invariably ends in some kind of shocking comical massacre, which is still bookended by so much well crafted material that it genuinely shocks. This is not B-movie violence.
There are some magnificent sequences in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, some hilarious moments, a really good buddy-movie set up, great actors and tight dialog throughout that doesn't ramble, but gets to the point. I appreciated all this. I just wish Tarantino would consider once, that maybe to be truly shocking, all he would need to do is pull the reins in.