DJANGO UNCHAINED (2012)
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Writer:
Producers: Shannon McIntosh, Michael Shamberg, James Skotchdopole, Bob Weinstein, and Harvey Weinstein
Editor: Fred Raskin
Cinematography: Robert Richardson
Music: Various artists
Starring: Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington, and Samuel L. Jackson
Runtime: 2 hours 45 minutes
Rating: R (violence, language, some nudity)
Genre: Western, Action, Drama
Release
Date: December 25, 2012
Before
Watching the Movie: Watch this trailer for the blaxploitation/grindhouse flick from the 70s called Boss N*****. Tarantino has explicitly stated that this is one of the movies he based Django Unchained on, and there are some obvious similarities.
Intro: I have never seen a Tarantino movie before, but I have heard a lot about them. I have also heard how violent they are. I first heard about this movie when I looked on IMDb to see what Leonardo DiCaprio was doing next (I am a fan of his). I was intrigued. Then when it came out and it started getting rave reviews, I decided to go see it with a friend. Django Unchained, as I guess is expected from Tarantino, is incredibly and over-the-top violent, but very well done otherwise with stylized directing, great acting, good writing, great music, and lots of intense action.
Plot: A former dentist turned bounty hunter named Dr. King Schultz (Waltz) finds a couple of slave owners looking for a slave named Django (Foxx), hoping he can help him find his previous owners, who Schultz is hunting. Schultz teaches Django to be a successful bounty hunter. After a while, the two get caught up in finding and freeing Django's wife named Broomhilda (Washington), who was sold off at the same time Django was. The search leads them to a Mississippi plantation called Candieland owned by the ruthless Calvin Candie (DiCaprio). Django and Schultz must try and free Broomhilda and escape Candieland unscathed.
Things
people may find “objectionable”: Be warned before watching the movie that it is incredibly violent. If you are at all uncomfortable with blood, violence, and people being shot, this is not the movie for you. Aside from that, there is a ton of swearing, a lot of which is racial (it's period-accurate though) and there are a couple quick nudity shots (not in a sexual context), but the main thing is the massive and over-the-top amount of violence.
Ratings:
-Directing/Cinematography: 10/10. This is the first Quentin Tarantino movie I have seen and I now know why people like him so much as a director (and a writer). The directing is really good and it's full of interesting shots. I definitely want to see more of his movies now.
-Acting: 10/10. The acting was fantastic. Everyone was great in their respective roles. Jamie Foxx was great as Django and I'm guessing he'll probably be nominated for Best Actor (but won't win because of Daniel Day Lewis in Lincoln). Leonardo DiCaprio also plays a great evil character. I've always seen him as a protagonist, but he is just so evil as Calvin Candie in the movie. Samuel L. Jackson is also great as always.
-Writing: 9.5/10.
-Story: 9/10. Very good story. It was both original and interesting, though it did not have any plot twists. My only complaint is that I think it went on a bit too long. The ending was good and satisfying, but I saw several different and earlier points at which I thought it could've ended.
-Script: 10/10. Tarantino can write! I have a feeling this is a strength for him considering how quoted his other movies seem to be. I liked the script a lot, in a nutshell.
-Special
Effects: 9/10. Not a huge part of the movie, aside from all the gunshots and blood and stuff from that, but what there was of it was good.
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| One of the main movies Django Unchained was based on, just with a more appropriate Spanish title. See the trailer link up in the "Before the Movie" section. |
-Music/Score: 10/10. I loved the musical choices. Tarantino picked great songs to accompany the movie and in some cases it helps ratchet up the tension.
-Power/Emotion: 8/10. The most powerful emotion the movie evokes is the horrors of slavery. It shows the ugly side of racism and slavery and makes the audience feel bad for anyone in that situation. As for the characters, more of the feeling comes out in the adrenaline than it does for care for the characters. There are no real heroes in the movie. While Schultz and Django are technically "good guys," they are anti-heroes, and this makes them harder to feel compassionate for than other characters, though you do feel bad for Django, since his life has been torn apart by slavery and racism and you can understand his hatred of white men.
-Adrenaline: 10/10. The movie gets extremely intense at times, especially in the last 45 minutes or so. Though the most intense parts are supposed to be the action scenes, I think the tension is highest in the talking scenes in Candieland.
-Intelligence: 6/10. You could probably understand and get as much out of this movie if you were an MIT phd grad or a high school dropout. This isn't a bad thing, it just isn't that much of a thinking man's movie. It seemed to be relatively historically-accurate, though I really wasn't paying attention to that stuff. As long as you understand how horrible slavery was and the kinds of things that happened to slaves, you should be able to fully comprehend the movie.
-Humor: 6/10. Though a lot of the movie is serious and intense, there are some truly hilarious moments. The scene with the KKK meeting killed me. It's absolutely hilarious. Aside from that, there are several witty lines throughout the movie.
-Best Credit: Amber Tamblyn as "Daughter of a Son of a Gunfighter"
-Final
Score: Though on the surface, Django Unchained may just look like 2 and a half hours of senseless violence, the movie is extremely well-made and enjoyable if you don't mind blood and people being shot (I'd be willing to bet the body count is higher than Macbeth and Hamlet combined). I'd recommend Django Unchained to anyone who is a fan of Tarantino, who likes grindhouse or blaxploitation flicks from the 70s or someone who wants to see a very well-made movie and doesn't mind blood and violence.
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