Posted by
Catmman on Monday, August 24, 2009 10:42:22 AM
Believe it or not, I liked this movie.
I have gotten a bit tired of the Quentin Tarentino schtick over the last few years.
Resevoir Dogs was good, and
Pulp Fiction wasn't a terrible movie but his stuff just seemed to get a bit "tired" if you catch my meaning. Most of his stuff just seemed a bit
too tongue in cheek, a bit
too over the top, a bit
too much of an "homage" to whatever past film genre, so I was expecting kinda the same thing with this movie.
The plot centers around a group of jewish allied soldiers, a special unit, put together by Brad Pitt. Their job is to operate as a guerrilla unit behind enemy lines "
killing Naatzis". Ultimately they get intel about a special movie premier to be attended by Hitler himself and the German High Command. A parrallel plot revolves around a German SS officer, the "Jew Hunter" and an escaped victim of the SS officer from earlier in the film and her own idea about dealing with the Nazis.
In the first part of the movie, I figured "here we go" with the same kinda Tarentino stuff. There is a part where you get a blast of spaghetti western type music. At first, it seems completely out of place, but as the scene progresses you see why it's in there and ultimately does work. The whole movie is that way for a bit. It isn't your standard "war movie" fare. It is
NOT historically accurate. It isn't as "uber" violent overall as one would think a Tarentino film would be, though there are a few graphic scenes. There are no
Kill Bill type scenes of blood spraying tens of feet into the air (if you've seen the first
Kill Bill movie you know what I'm talking about). There are bits of "quirkyness" thrown in the film from time to time and you need to be quick to spot them. I won't reveal what they are, but they are funny.
The movie is long, but it doesn't seem long. There was one point in the movie where I was wondering when we were going to get to the point, but it passed quickly. I know that sounds like a contradiction, but what are you going to do - I'm not a professional movie reviewer. I didn't realize what time it was until I got in my car to drive home and was a bit surprised at the length, over two and a half hours.
The movie has humor, in just the right spots. It has two scenes in particular where the tension is palpable - you know something bad is going to happen, but the scene keeps you engaged until the climax and you realize you were sitting on the edge of your seat (figuratively speaking). Most of the movie is predictable in the fact you know something is going to happen in the key scenes, but you are kept guessing as to
what will happen, if that makes any sense. There are some genuine surprises too, but we'll keep them that way.
This movie harkens back to Tarentino's earlier works, which is good. The movie doesn't take itself too seriously, another hallmark of Tarentino, but in this instance it works. It was a good (though quirky at times), entertaining movie.