Movie Review - Inglourious Basterds (2009)

Time to admit I was wrong. Just checked out this flick again on dvd and Tarantino has crafted a witty and thoroughly entertaining film. Scenes that I thought were much too long seemed to flow much better upon a second viewing. Pitt, Waltz, and Laurent were great. Yes, it's gimmicky at times and yes Tarantino goes over the top too often (that "music video" scene introducing the last chapter is ridiculously silly), but (in the complete opposite fashion of the last time I viewed this) the 150 minutes flew by.

So, I grossly misjudged this flick back in August '09. Take a look at my old review and the new rating below.

Original Post: 8/24/90

Starring Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz, Eli Roth, Diane Kruger, and Mélanie Laurent
Directed by Quentin Tarantino

Admittedly, I'm not a Tarantino savant. I've only seen Pulp Fiction (which I think is good), Kill Bill Vol 1 (which I think is amazing and near perfect), and Kill Bill Vol 2 (which I think is a pretentious pile of you-know-what). The problem with Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds is that I feel like he's only copying himself. Nothing about this new flick feels original. You want long scenes of dialogue that are essentially about nothing? They're here. You want violent deaths? He's got you covered. You want moderately cool camera shots and odd musical accompaniment? He doesn't let you down in that regard (even though he's copying these camera shots and reusing some music he's used in his other flicks). The thing is that even though I've only seen three other Tarantino movies, I've seen all this stuff before...and it's getting old.

As my fellow movie-goer and I were discussing after the flick last night, the movie wants you to think that this movie is about this group of Jewish-American soldiers headed by Brad Pitt's Aldo Raine known as the Basterds who trek across Europe killing and scalping Nazis. However, the flick really focuses on Christoph Waltz's Nazi "detective" Hans Landa. At the start, Landa is seeking out Jewish refugees, but as the flick continues, Landa starts to track down the Basterds.

Although that's a short summary for a movie that's over two-and-a-half hours long, that's really all you need to know. Tarantino peppers his movie with incredibly long scenes of loquacious dialogue that, admittedly, end with something cool happening, but force the viewer to sit through interminable chitchat. There's probably 45 minutes of good (even great) stuff in this flick, but it's nestled amongst 110 minutes of pretentiousness.

And that's the thing -- there is some really super stuff here. The last reel of the film is amazing. Nonstop entertainment and a fitting end to the flick. Additionally, all the acting is pretty top-notch. I was dreading director Eli Roth as a Basterd (because if Tarantino's acting in Pulp Fiction is any indication of directorial acting chops, Roth was in trouble), but he was oddly funny. Christoph Waltz is also quite good in what I'd consider the lead role of the film. Unfortunately, it's during his scenes where the dialogue never seems to end. The two ladies of the flick -- Diane Kruger's German movie star working undercover for the Allies and Mélanie Laurent's Jewish movie theater owner with a stunning revenge plan against the Nazis -- were also enjoyable to watch.

The film, however, belongs to Brad Pitt. After watching the previews, I was not looking forward to Pitt's performance at all, but Pitt seems to realize that there's no point in taking himself seriously here. He's over-the-top, but not so much so as to remove the viewer from the "realism" of the flick. With the recent Burn After Reading and to a lesser extent Mr. and Mrs. Smith and the Oceans flicks, Pitt definitely has a knack for comedy and he needs to pursue humor much more than the emotional melodrama of Benjamin Button.

As I'm watching the film, Tarantino just begs you to ask the question, is he a good director because he mimics other filmmakers/techniques/ideas and mashes them together into one movie? Or is he simply a copycat (even of himself, at times) who is adept at fooling people into thinking they're watching something original? Maybe that's a little harsh, and, if I'm being honest, I don't really ever want to see a "normal" straightforward Tarantino film. Despite the fact that I may not be effusively praising this flick, I would still much rather watch Tarantino at least do what he does than watch nearly any other action flick that came out this summer. But he's really kind of a joke to me now...he needs to expand his horizons a bit. Lord knows it's not as if he's making a movie a year, so maybe he needs to take some time and try something a little different on his next venture.

So, Inglourious Basterds is a conundrum. There's some really good stuff here, but it's too few and far between. The rating below is not going to fall into the "recommendation" category, but I actually urge folks to go and see it simply because, if you're a movie fan, it's worth viewing simply to be able to have a discussion post-movie. This movie commanded the longest post-movie discussion between me and my pal since My Sister's Keeper (you may think that's a joke, but the post-screening talk on My Sister's Keeper went on for over an hour). And should you watch the flick, I ask you this question...what exactly is Tarantino saying about film in general? The movie is very focused on the notion of cinema and what it can do to/for the masses and I don't necessarily think he's saying something positive (I'm sure he thinks he's cool because he's ironic in that regard...).

The RyMickey Rating upon initial release: C
The NEW RyMickey Rating (as of 2010): B+