Let me get this out of the way first: this is the first Tarantino film that I've seen properly (i.e. all the way through), so I'm gonna be judging it as an "outsider" instead of by the standards of the rest of his catalogue.
Being a Quentin Tarantino film, I knew not to expect a straight-forward action film - but this is not at all how the film has been sold through its trailers. If you watch this trailer here (I'd advise not watching "Trailer 2" - it contains a surprising amount of spoilers), you'll see the fast cutting, loud music and gunshots-type stuff that you'd expect from any mainstream action trailer. But in the case of Inglourious Basterds, this is just false advertisement. There's probably less than 10 minutes of the Basterds actually killing Nazis, and of the nearly 3 hour-long running time, that's hardly anything. While yes, I definitely would've enjoyed the film more if there was a significant increase in the amount of activity on-screen, that's not to say it isn't good - it just might not be the film you expect it to be.
The Nazi-killing / shootouts that are there are great, and the film is incredibly violent at times; in the trailer, Brad Pitt's character mentions his men collecting scalps...and you'll see those scalps being collected (which caused some grimacing from viewers). Despite the title however, the Basterds who are doing all of this seem to be only half of the film's overall focus, which is a shame, considering that Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) and others such as Sgt. Donny Donowitz (played by Eli Roth, director of the Hostel movies), are highly entertaining characters to watch. This changing of focus is the film's main downfall - it's split up into five "chapters," and I didn't find the plot or the characters engaging at all. There are frequent switches between characters, and some go missing for hours at a time. As such, there's little suspense brought about with regards to the storyline, and while it's often fun to watch, you never particularly care about anyone.
The film is entertaining though; there are a reasonable amount of funny moments, some even reaching that pedestal of laugh-out-loud humour. Mike Myers even appears in a reasonably large cameo with a brilliantly realistic approach to British accents and moustaches. The film would've benefitted from more of this comic relief however, considering its length. It's not exactly taking itself seriously (as you can tell by the style and the overly dramatic, sometimes Western-inspired soundtrack), and so could've provided a bit more of a break for the audience from the lengthy conversations.
What does happen during the 2 hours and 55 minutes Inglourious runs for? Well it's essentially people sitting around talking. This is where I'm surprised by Tarantino's writing - even though this is the case, at no point was I bored as such. It's a testament to the dialogue, considering that while some of the characters are played brilliantly (Christoph Waltz is amazing, and terrifying, as Hans Landa the "Jew Hunter"), you don't really engage with any of them. Tarantino knows what he's doing in this respect; he at least manages to keep you watching. Some of the twists he throws at you are not only surprising but hilarious (the main one I'm thinking about here occurs at the end).
The film's final scene is its greatest achievement, when it finally manages to reach that perfect mix of action, humour, suspense and general all-out craziness that it's been building towards, and what I'd been waiting for. I expected, or wanted the film to maintain this kind of atmosphere throughout, and looking back on the film as a whole, it's a great shame it didn't, as the last half an hour or so is truly fantastic.
Inglourious Basterds has been out for a month now, so if you're going to see it, you probably already have; I don't need to write much more here. I may have focused on the film's issues but don't get me wrong - I did have a good time watching it, and you probably will too. The dialogue, along with the humour and violence interspersed (albeit slightly sparsely) throughout make it a pleasantly "fun" viewing experience, just not as "fun" as it could have been. You'll probably love it if you're already a big fan of Quentin Tarantino; if not, just be sure not to go in expecting to see Nazis getting "owned" by Brad Pitt & co. for 3 hours.
7/10
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