Django Unchained

 

I have never been a huge fan of Tarantino’s films.  My favourite is True Romance but he didn’t direct it and for my shame I didn’t understand the final act of Inglorious Basterds until it was explained to me.  Everyone has their favourites but Tarantino doesn't feature on my list.

There was no excitement for Django Unchained and expectations were low.  If it wasn’t for the award nominations chances are I wouldn’t have bothered seeing it at all.

PLOT:  After being bought from his current owners Django (Jamie Fox) helps Dr King Schultz (Christoph Waltz), a German bounty hunter, catch the Brittle Brothers in order to earn his freedom.   Django and Schultz become partners but after learning that Django’s wife Broomhilda (Kerry Washington) has been sold to plantation owner Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio) the two hatch a plan to buy her back.  END PLOT

Django Unchained is a ridiculously long film but for the vast majority of the 2hour 45min (IMDB) running length I was completely engrossed.  The only time my mind started to wander was during the obligatory Tarantino cameo – luckily it was a short one as if he remained on screen one second longer my opinion of Django Unchained would be more negative than it deserved to be.

Despite the themes of slavery and racism Django Unchained counteracts this with some wonderfully dark comedic moments.  Django’s excitement of choosing his own outfit and the following reveal of said outfit probably got the biggest laugh but I loved the entire conversation with Big Daddy (Don Johnson) and Jonah Hill about the masks.

The pace is fairly slow and the final act grounds to a halt in order to build up the tension before the bloody shoot out that every single person in the audience was waiting for.  The final scene is (thankfully) worth the wait.

There is plenty of stylish violence and lots of bloody deaths, some of which were played for genuine laughs, but as the action fell into over the top territory I can’t say I was shocked by it.  The quieter moments of violence such as Broomhilda in the hot box and Billy Crash (the always enjoyable Walton Goggins) threatening to castrate Django were much more effective.

Jamie Fox is excellent as Django but when Christoph Waltz was on screen he stole the scene.  Waltz is great fun and darts between sympathetic and psychotic without batting an eyelid.

Leonardo DiCaprio plays the villain and it makes for a very welcome change.  DiCaprio is mesmerising as the ruthless Calvin Candie.  The only complaint I have about his performance is that when he shouts in anger he becomes more petulant than menacing - every time he did it I immediately wanted to go home and watch The Man in the Iron Mask.

Samuel L Jackson is better than he has been for years and pretty much owns the phrase "mother fucker".  Kerry Washington is fine but gets nothing to do.

Django Unchained is a typical Tarantino film.  The style, the killer soundtrack, the violence, the cracking dialogue and the self-satisfying cameo are all present but this is the first time that I have walked away absolutely loving what I have just watched.

Aside from the length and the Tarantino cameo (are you sensing that I didn’t like hated it yet?) there isn’t much about Django Unchained I can complain about.  It gets a 9/10. 

The Three Musketeers

It’s not often that I will review a dvd but The Three Musketeers is the exception that casual rule, because, not only have I read the book once, I have read it several times.

Those of you who have had the misfortune of stopping by my blog on more than one occasion will know that this is a complete turnaround from my usual book-to-film disclaimer.

PLOT: D’Artagnan, (Logan Lerman) a young Gasgon, heads off to Paris to join the Musketeers and becomes friends with Athos, (Matthew Macfadyen) Porthos (Ray Stevenson) and Aramis (Luke Evans) after an altercation with the Cardinal Richelieu’s (Christoph Waltz) Guards.

The Three Musketeers, with D’Artagnan’s help, must stop Milady de Winter (Milla Jovovich) and Buckingham (Orlando Bloom) from stealing the Queen’s (Juno Temple) diamonds and starting a war between France and England. BLIMPS, damn BLIMPS and more BLIMPS! END PLOT

To say that Paul WS Anderson’s version of The Three Musketeers is loosely based on Dumas’ classic novel would be the understatement of the century. I knew this as I watched the trailer so I cannot sit here and complain about it without coming across like a more obnoxious arse than usual. It doesn’t mean that I am happy about it.

Unfortunately the three Musketeers turn out to be bit players in their own movie and had very little to do. Milady, the Cardinal and the King all had more screen time than the Musketeers whose roles in the film were curiously limited.

I appreciate that Anderson is his wife’s number one fan but if you are going to give Milady so much to do at least film the section of the novel which shows her capture and escape from Lord de Winter. This would show why the character is one of the best female villains around.

On the rare occasions that the Musketeers were on screen Macfadyen, Stevenson and Evans were good fun and their chemistry with Logan Lerman was decent even though I do think he was an odd casting choice. There were a few small glimpses of their very distinct personalities but this was not the film to watch if you wished to see any character development.

Although the humour was more often miss than hit I will admit to giggling at Porthos’ throwaway “I am independently wealthy” line. Ray Stevenson was having a blast and he was great fun as Porthos however Luke Evans, as my favourite Musketeer Aramis, had next to no lines at all and was reduced to nothing more than a horse traffic warden.

I am not a fan of slapstick comedy so the scenes with the King (Freddie Fox), and there were many, were not a welcome addition to an already bloated 110min running time.

The entire film seemed to be one long special effect and there was so many green screen shots I am not sure that a single take was filmed outside! The effects were fairly impressive and the steampunk nature of the gadgets fitted in with the overall feel of the film. Although impressive, there was almost too much reliance on the CGI as it took away from the natural swashbuckling action which should have been given preference.

The Three Musketeers is not a good film yet it was very easy to get sucked in. Christoph Waltz and Orlando Bloom were having a great time and I am pleased annoyed to announce that it rubbed off on me.

I wanted to dislike The Three Musketeers and I tried to hate it with a fiery passion but I just couldn’t. I think it is a testament to Dumas that such an empty CGI mess could be endearing. The Three Musketeers gets a 6.5/10…. Now let us never speak of this film and the fucking blimps again.