Marval Movie

Django Unchained is a triumphant return to form for the Western Genre under the supervision of one of our greatest Directors, who brings all of his enthusiasm and knowledge of old movies to the game along with his unchallenged wit.

The movie starts with a chain of slaves being dragged across the country by slave traders and eventually through a deep dark forest before they come across a mysterious caravan with a swaying tooth above it being ridden by Dr. King Schultz (Christopher Waltz) who is looking for a particular slave. He finds the one he needs in Django (the D is silent) played by Jamie Lee Foxx. Schultz is a bounty hunter who needs Django's help to find a group of murders named The Brittle Brothers, only Django knows what they look like and is in no position to refuse helping Schultz.

Django is actually not an original character, there are actually a few old movies that use the Django name, so this is technically an adaption for Quentin Tarantino not one of his more original works that he has more claim to, but make no mistake just like Resivour Dogs was a heist movie and Kill Bill was a Samurai revenge story Tarantino makes Django his own personal creation that can be called nothing else than a Tarantino movie. 

Django Unchained is the first Tarantino movie not to be edited by Sally Menke who sadly died in 2010 at the age of fifty-six. She was a fantastic editor and will be missed. In Django we now have Fred Raskin, Raskin does a fine job taking over as editor for a Tarantino picture, the editing is sharp and stylish.

Tarantino's movies are violent, there's no escaping from that its a fact. But what sets him apart form other violent Directors like Zack Snyder is that he doesn't obsess over it nor does he glamorize it he may emphasis or exaggerate it but still he doesn't cheapen it. Kill Bill is probably on most peoples list of the bloodiest movie they've ever seen, this movie I feel does not beat it but it does come surprisingly close its still his second bloodiest movie, with whole buckets of blood being splashed out of human bodies when only being shot once.

Once they find and kill the Brittle Brothers, Django and Schultz decide they make a good team and decide to continue working together so that they can find Django's wife. Before this scene happens there is one of the funniest scenes that I have ever seen and it gave me one of the hardest laughs that I've ever had in a theatre,  it happens when a posy of KKK members are getting ready to charge Django and Schultz and they have real vision problems with their hoods, it is easily one of the funniest scenes I've ever experienced. When they get a lead on Django's wife they learn shes been sold to a man by the name of Candie and shes in a place that has been called "Candy Town".

Leonardo DiCaprio plays Calvin J. Candie (he prefers Misure Candie) who owns the plantation. I always considered DiCaprio a great actor and he has done well to elevate himself from pretty boy to serious acting star, but in Django he plays a twisted, electrifying, Joker like psycho who owns the screen whenever he's on, let it be noted that DiCaprio can play villains too. Also on the note of DiCaprio, I hate it whenever he has to do an accent that's not his own voice, because he's terrible at it. I start cracking up whenever he does it (Shutter Island and Blood Diamond for example) but here its used for his comedic, showmanship nature. Along with DiCaprio is Samuel L. Jackson (a Tarantino regular) who plays Candie's Butler Stephen, Jackson appears as you've never seen him before in this movie and its a joy to see a Jackson performance from Tarantino's directing, I'd forgotten how much I enjoy it.

Quentin Tarantino has never had a composer for his movies he has always personally selected the soundtrack for his movies, Quentin Tarantino has great taste in music, he knows all kinds from the well known to the underrated treasures. Here they are all selected greatly, however I heard before hand that there was a rap song in the movie and this made me nervous, but now I'll be damned but I heard a rap song in a Western action sequence and it fit.

My sister studied storytelling and one thing that she came back from that class telling me about was "don't ever use a zooming shot, it makes that movie look old-fashioned" clearly nobody told this to Quentin Tarantino because zoom shots are all over Django. They are used mostly to either introduce a character with a quick zoom in or bring us into the action with a dramatic zoom out. Tarantino is a master of cinematic techniques and I have a feeling that the zoom shot wont be considered a cheap technique anymore.

Like Alfred Hitchcock Quentin Tarantino likes to make cameo appearances in his movies. Here he plays an Australian slave trader that appears close to the end, when I saw him I had a little smile on my face, when he spoke in his Australian accent I had to put a little effort to stop me from laughing and what ultimately happens to his character is just brilliant as well as hilarious. One of his best cameos.

Django Unchained is the revival that Westerns have been needing for some time, last year I was treated to Rango and this year it was Django. Tarantino and all his cast are electrifying to the extent that I was reminded of the joys of watching movies.

Rating: 4 stars out of 4