Cast: Jamie Foxx, Leonardo Dicaprio, Christoph Waltz, Samuel L Jackson, Kerry Washington.
Director: Quentin Tarantino.
The guy who does not care what other people (read critics) think about his films is back with his next directorial. The much hyped Django Unchained!
Django Unchained is set in 1858 when slavery was the
rule of the day. Django (Jamie Foxx) is rescued from his masters by the witty
daring scheming dentist turned bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz (Christoph
Waltz). King makes Django his partner and together they set out to rescue
Django’s wife Broomhilda(Kerry
Washington), who is owned by the supposedly cruel Mississippi Plantation owner Calvin
Candie (Leonardo Dicaprio).
The first thing that would strike you right from the
start is the wonderful cinematography and the old classical western style music
that sets the tone right away. After the immediate entry of Waltz and Foxx
character by character starts appearing as Tarantino goes about building up the
screenplay with traces of humor here and there.
Waltz who has done a fabulous job, is given a heroic
stature initially but is soon shadowed by Foxx(not performance wise) because of
the screenplay. The characterisation and scope of Django does not look
indelible which easily explains why Will Smith might have turned down the role;
not to take away any credit from the really good performance by Foxx.
Leonardo and Samuel Jackson come into the picture
towards the end of the first half. What seems really appalling here is the weak
characterisation of Leonardo which hardly makes him the cruel villain as he is
supposed to be. This is easily one of the roles he would love to forget. Samuel
L Jackson as Steven, the nigger who hates niggers, is funny and appears more
sinister than Leonardo.
The film moves at a slow pace especially in the first
half and the runtime of 165 minutes will make you shift in your seat unless you
are a Tarantino fan. The verbal duels between Foxx and Leonardo are interesting
but they never reach a boiling point leaving you unsatisfied.
But a special point to be made here is the spectacular
direction which keeps the intent all through the film considering a not so
impressive screenplay and a simple plot. The action scenes(violence rather)
have been choreographed well. You would really enjoy certain scenes towards the
end.
One interesting question that a lot of the viewers
would have is whether Christoph Watz (notwithstanding his amazing performance)
really deserved the Oscar for the Best Supporting actor over Tommy Lee Jones!
Iam
giving a 3.5/5 for Django Unchained. Django though a really good film does not
reach the league of the great ones.
PS:
Django is a slow moving VIOLENT film. You will be disappointed if you are
looking for a fast paced action flick.
Rating
Scale (Out of 5)
Less
than 2
-
Unwatchable.
2
to 2.25
-
Below average.
2.5
to 2.75 -
Average.
3 to
3.25 -
Good.
3.5 to 3.75 - Really Good.
4 to
4.25 - Great.
4.5 and above -
Extraordinary.
