Inglourious Basterds
by Adam Elliott
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posted Nov 2 2011 7:30PM
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 Rated R - 2h33 -
You know that feeling after Thanksgiving dinner when you sit back, fully satisfied? That’s how I felt after watching Inglourious Basterds. Quentin Tarantino’s latest is a nice upgrade to his film catalog, showing a broader range of storytelling.
Set during World War II in Nazi occupied France, the film uses real events (such as WWII, Hitler, The SS, etc…) but is a fictional story. Brad Pitt leads an elite motley crew of Jewish American soldiers, whose goal is nothing more that to brutally kill Nazis and spread fear amongst the German ranks. A parallel plotline involves a Jewish woman who escapes a noted Nazi Colonel, now on her own path of vengeance.
Of note is the aforementioned Colonel Hans Landa. Played by German actor Cristoph Waltz, he embodies everything that you would expect in a bad guy. His evil nature is really what makes this movie a great success.
That’s not to say the Brad Pitt’s lead as Lieutenant Aldo Raine is a bore. You are helpless not to go gaga for his southern-laced accent that pours out of his military stoneface. I literally hung on his every single line, and couldn’t stop staring at his supposed Columbian Necktie scar. He’s badder than Ali.
The crowd I was with cheered and laughed out loud at the “Tarrantino-esque” trademark moments, which were paced throughout, but the true victory of this movie is that it works on our fantasy.
Who hasn’t had a wonderful fantasy of exacting revenge on the baddest of the bullies? Who wouldn’t like to take out a Nazi with a baseball bat, Crocodile Dundee knife, bomb, handgun, trick gun, raging inferno, your own hands, or a fully-loaded machine gun with lots of extra clips of ammo. OK, bloodlust aside, lets just say this is good therapy for your bully fantasies.
Inglourious Basterds takes some time to get where its going, but the development is well worth the outcome.
(Out of Four)
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