One of the best debuts of all time.

Rating: 9/10 (5 July 2014)

A debut film is an important film in a director's career as not only can it introduce the film industry to a new talent, but also can give us an idea of what that director will later bring to the film industry's table. Whether it'll be a great career whose legacy will live on forever, or a frightening one that will give the industry a bad name, the debut can give us an idea of what we can expect from a newcomer. The former definitely applies to Reservoir Dogs. Made by a film geek with a tiny budget and a stellar cast, the film became a staple, not only of the independent cinema scene, but of the entire film industry in general. Critics and audiences raved and the film has gone down as one of the best films of all time. But is it worthy of that praise? Completely. While not being one of the best films ever made, the film is certainly a great one, with a great script, acting and direction.
The plot is that a bunch of gangsters, only identified by colour, attempt to pull off the perfect heist, but it all goes horribly wrong, as the cops have been alerted. After regrouping at their rendezvous point, the gangsters, reduced in their numbers and extremely paranoid, try to figure out what went wrong. What follows is a complex plot involving tortured cops, betrayals, and bubblegum pop from the 70's. The plot works really well here, as it keeps you interested in to what's going on and the non-linear approach helps to do so by filling in the blanks of the plot, and it all gels together perfectly. It also helps that the plot has many surprises, twists and a lot of tension throughout.
The rest of the writing is also very impressive. The dialogue may seem bizarre, considering that often the characters talk more about Pam Grier, tipping and Maddonna than anything else, but it is very clever and very quirky dialogue, which can often be very funny, and surprisingly, there are more laughs throughout the film (especially the opening scene) than you'd think, but the funny moments and the more suspenseful moments are balanced out perfectly, as each allows their own time to shine, and the film is smart enough to not veer too much into one genre or the other.
Unfortunately though, the characters don't hold up as well. Outside of Mr. Blonde and Mr. Orange, none of the characters have much teeth to them, and aren't very different from one another in terms of how they speak and how their personalities are constructed, as the actors alone the only thing that differentiates these characters apart. That said, some of the characters are well rounded, particularly Mr. Blonde and Mr. Orange, especially the former as the writing and Michael Madsen combine to create a character who is charming and charismatic, despite being psychotic and he definitely leaves an impact even if he has limited screen time. Mr. Orange as well is pretty interesting, being a smart-ass who is overly confident and because of this, gets more than he bargained for.
The style is also pretty cool as well. The film has a brilliant soundtrack, has great moments of exploitation violence and shows some smart ideas, particularly the ending, which is impressive for a first time director. The film may mostly take place in a warehouse, but there is more drama, excitement and hilarity in this one setting than many globe trotting summer blockbusters. Transformers, anyone?
Overall, this is a great debut, and deserves all the praise it gets and more. Despite some missteps (ie flat characters and a few plot holes), this is a masterpiece that stands as a great work of art, and gave us a taste of what to come from the great mind of Quentin Tarantino.