Oh so long

Rating: 4/10 (30 June 2020)

Having watched two Tarantino films back to back, I may have burnt myself out on this genre. Perhaps my lack of excitement at the events was due to the blurring together of the two movies, which reduced the sensationalism of the plot, but there is no way to know. For a movie with such graphic bloodshed and exciting backstories, not much seemed to happen. There was no protagonist, per se, and all of the characters were unsavory, making their inevitable deaths feel justified and moral. What saved the film from feeling interminable was the flashback. Going back in time to show how the situation came to be broke up the monotony of men standing around shouting. However, the stakes did not feel real to me. The threat level was so high and critically dangerous that it capped out and became mundane. If everything is violent and aggressively sinister, it doesn't feel special anymore and loses its sensationalism. One scene, in particular, felt forced and unnecessary: Major Marquis Warren (Samuel L. Jackson) informs General Sandy Smithers (Bruce Dern) that he had tortured, taken advantage of s*xually, and then killed the Generals son. It was graphic, and shocking, which was the intention, but lacked any sort of reason why the audience should care. There was no established reason why this event would spark a deep emotional reaction, beyond basic human decency.