Review of Inglourious Basterds (2009) by Spangle — 23 May 2014

This film is horribly inaccurate in terms of history, but screw it, it is fun as all get out. Like all Tarantino fare, we get our stylized violence, our pitch black comedy, and of course our closeup of an actress' foot (Diane Kruger here). Also, we get a great film. A close second place for me behind Pulp Fiction in terms of Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds features great cinematography and great acting, namely from Christoph Waltz, who absolutely killed it. Brad Pitt was also great and quite hilarious, to boot. From the onset of the film, Waltz' performance takes center stage as we watch him do what he does best: hunt Jews. We then see the same from his counterpart, Pitt, who is great at killing Nazis. These first two parts of the film really setup the film incredibly well for the final act, where spoilers. In addition to Waltz and Pitt, the whole cast did exceptionally well, in partucular Melanie Laurent and Diane Kruger. Michael Fassbender, Daniel Bruhl, and shockingly, Mike Myers, all have good turns as well. Throughout the film, there are many different genres being used terrifically. Of note, the comedic elements were great, in particular the scene in which Pitt attempts to speak Italian. These moments of comedy help to lighten the mood against the hyper violence that takes place (though never too dusturbing, typically the stuff depicted would bother me more, but Tarantino is so stylish, he gets away with it). However, the film also includes many thrilling/suspenseful scenes where your heart is in your throat as you await what happens, while coupling that with elements of war, drama, adventure, action genres, all of which used very artfully and really help to add to the general entertainment of the film.

On the negative side, the final part is a tad over the top. It came off as extremely odd and slightly off putting. However, the impact on the viewer is certainly still great and any over the topness is not a major complaint, rather something small that bugged me a little bit. Overall, Inglourious Basterds is one of Tarantino's best films and ultimately worthy of the praise it has received since its release.