If only....

Rating: 3/10 (11 January 2016)

If you absolutely adored Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction and Django, as I did, then you will most likely feel conflicted about this film. Tarantino films have shaped pop culture for about twenty years now and this film does him no justice. In terms of the dialouge and interactions between characters, it is just exquisite. The characters seem to naturally coexist with one another in Tarantino's film. The conversations and tension between the characters seems to work on every level. They all somehow seem to know each by word of mouth in this tight knit universe that Tarantino has created. This is the strongest characteristic of Tarantino's film. However, this is the only good thing I could say about this chaotic mess of a film. There is this enormous build up throughout the film that ultimately leaves you with such a sour taste. The film is over three hours long for no apparent reason. The plot is thick enough to sustain it for that long, however, about half way through the film it all just unravels and becomes routine. As with every Tarantino film, heads eventually start rolling like bowling balls. You would think this is the most satisfying part of the film, right? Wrong. Every kill leaves you feeling kind of empty, unlike Django where the last part of the film is a phenomenal blood bath done in good taste. I LOVE the Tarantino's Gore fest just as much as the next guy but this film just dragged on for far to long. One of the main reasons I loved Reservoir Dogs was how snappy the film was. It moved along at a great pace and never apologized for it. I desperately wanted this film to be so much more but it just fell short of the high standard I hold Tarantino to. I had anxiously awaited to see Tim Roth and Tarantino work together again but it was just not what I expected unfortunately. This film is probably a seven as a stand alone feature...but considering it was the masterful Tarantino who directed it I feel compelled to compare it along side his other wonderfully crafted films...and...unfortunately it fall's well short.