Inglourious Basterds

I am very sorry, but I didn't like Inglourious Basterds. Nobody is more shocked and upset with my opinion than myself because I have always loved Quentin Tarantino. Pulp Fiction is probably one of the ten best movies ever in my opinion. Reservoir Dogs is a brilliant film, and I own and love Jackie Brown, Kill Bill and Death Proof. So naturally when I saw that Inglourious Basterds was finally ready to be released (I'd been waiting years to see it), I began to get excited.

Maybe it was because I expected too much that I was so let down. But I found it shallow and lacking all of the wonderful storytelling tools that QT has always used in the past. I was expecting interesting/fun dialogue, amazing suspense and slick cinematography.

I do have to give Brad Pitt credit - he was the single most redeeming factor in the film. His role was amazingly funny; but unfortunately, he was only in it for a few scenes. The music flowed pretty well too, as QT is always good at using great tunes.

But perhaps the most important factor in swaying my decision to dislike this film is what I consider to be a prank on behalf of QT. The big finale scene in the theatre. Did you notice that while Hitler is watching the ridiculous Nazi film how he laughs hysterically at everybody being shot? It's almost disturbing to see his reaction, and you know that that guy has to have some serious issues. It's just not something to laugh at right? I mean the Nazi movie was pretty ridiculous. But then the big prank is when the Basterds enter the scene and start blowing the hell out of people. They're literally shooting at masses of people running for their lives and burning to death. When this happens, everybody in the theatre starts laughing like crazy (just like the scene with Hitler). Don't get me wrong, it can be funny when people die in movies, like in Pulp Fiction when Marvin accidentally gets shot in the face. Hilarious! But I have no doubt in my mind that QT intended to get the audience laughing as a reverse mirror of the Hitler laughing scene. In fact, the entire film is metaphoric with the Nazi film; mirrored but opposite.

Perhaps I could be wrong. But I can tell you honestly that I've always been a huge QT fan, but I walked away from this feeling like garbage. It wasn't the blood & guts at all - I actually found myself chuckling at the scalping - it's just something about the idea of the whole thing that impacted me. And don't give me the "oh, but it's an homage to gritty war films!" line. Yes, I'm well aware of that. But there are ways do to that, and this wasn't the best. His better homages remain Kill Bill and Death Proof. It's just a let down. Congratulations QT - it was at least entertaining, and I get your joke.