Brilliant satire and slapstick

Rating: 10/10 (17 April 2011)

The Great Dictator is such a brilliant mixture of biting satire and hilarious slapstick. Charlie Chaplin was the first person brave enough to insult Hitler's overblown ego, and also the first to speak out against his wrongs.
Chaplin once again proves to be a very energetic comedian, while at the same time doing it with the deadpan style of the silent days. He also gives us a ton of wonderful, well thought out and timed gags, showing us why he's the greatest comedian who ever lived. And he mixes all that with a heartwarming romance and social commentary, which fully proves his genius.
Like I said before, this also shows us what life was like for Jews back then, while brilliantly avoiding being too depressing. It's been said that Charlie Chaplin wouldn't have made this movie had he known about the full extent of Hitler's crimes against humanity, this is still a respectful satire of the situation. It never makes too light of the situation, except for maybe a joke about a gas that can kill everyone (I bet Chaplin especially regretted that joke after learning about everything).
Another thing I loved about this was the famous speech at the end. It was so epic, heartfelt and inspiring that it made me want to march right up to Hitler and kill him myself. Except, uh, I guess it's a little too late for that. But the speech was still epic.
I recommend this to any fan of Charlie Chaplin and anybody who enjoys good political satire.