The search for a movie that can skillfully balance brutality and humor well has become a wild goose chase these days. But no more worries, my fellow teenage American moviegoers. If you like movies such as Death Proof, the Kill Bill series, or Sin City, then you’ll love watching Quentin Tarantino’s newest masterpiece: Inglourious Basterds.
The film is based around a group of Jewish-American soldiers in Nazi-occupied France during World War II. The group known as, you guessed it, the Inglourious Basterds is specifically chosen to spread fear throughout the Third Reich by scalping and brutally murdering Nazis.
Although the title may lead you to believe that the movie is solely based around this group of Nazi hunters, it isn’t. Inglorious Basterds contains several different, but intertwined stories that all come together for an ending that you won’t be able to find in your history books. These extra plots include a teenage Jewish girl that runs a movie theater, a film critic that doubles as a war hero, and a hottie German actress that is a part of the French Resistance.
Tarantino’s sick and twisted, yet brilliant imagination is put to the test in what I believe to be one of his finest movies to date. It’s a solid, fast-paced story, with an amazing cast. Brad Pitt is the most noticeable face in this film, but I wouldn’t say he’s the star. Pitt’s performance was good, but was definitely out-shone by Australian-born actor, Christoph Waltz. Waltz plays Colonel Hans Landa, a Nazi interrogate, that chillingly plays cat-and-mouse with Pitt’s character, Lt. Aldo Raine and the majority of the supporting cast. He is spellbinding, frustrating, and pure bait for our friends over at the Academy Awards.
The movie has very few low points, but if I have to say something negative about Basterds, the best I can come up with is that it dragged on a little at certain points. The movie is divided into five chapters, and if you’re not into Tarantino’s gruesome movie-making, it could seem like an eternity. But, like I said, that’s one of the only drawbacks of the film.
When I saw this movie, the rest of the audience seemed pleased, which could explain the movies dart to the top of the box office with an impressive opening weekend of $38.5 million. But what do the critics have to say? With mostly positive reviews, critics seem to agree. The Rolling Stone gave it 3/4 stars, and also stated, “Will Basterds polarize audiences? That’s a given. But for anyone professing true movie love, there’s no resisting it.”
On the other hand, the Philadelphia Inquierer said, “Tarantino is like a kid playing soldiers – he can’t stop himself, and he tumbles into long scenarios at odds with the basic tenets of film narrative.”
If you and some friends want to go out and see some good ol’ Nazi killing mixed with Tarantino’s slightly questionable imagination along with a solid cast, you can’t really go wrong with the Inglourious Basterds.