Movie Review: Django Unchained

A couple years before the Civil War, a slave, Django(Jamie Foxx) is rescued from captivity by a German bounty hunter named Dr. King Schultz(Christoph Waltz). Schultz does not believe in slavery and makes Django a deal, if he helps him track down potential bounties he’ll help Django rescue his wife from a very nasty slave owner named Calvin Candie(Leonardo DiCaprio) from there the two work together and Django becomes a bounty hunter.

This movie frustrates me horribly, half the film is beyond amazing like an almost pure perfect work. Slowly the film breaks down though and looses its magic. Still the strong parts here are worth it. The actors in this bring it and that alone is fun to watch. Jamie Foxx plays everything just right for Django, even though the material is over the top he is playing it like an action film. There is no scene in this movie where he fails and that should be respected because everyone else gets to over act, but not him. Waltz is again amazing here and you can’t help but love this guy, even though he’s a bounty hunter he’s very likable. DiCaprio is so good as the nasty Calvin Candie he obviously enjoyed this role and eats up his dialogue. Even though he is evil you kind of like him and that is mainly because of DiCaprio. I must shout out to Samuel L. Jackson who really surprised me as Stephen an old slave working for Candie, no spoilers here but it’s a very hard character to play and he nails it.

The movie itself is pretty simple, it’s a western and a revenge film. It’s super violent which most people expect from a Tarantino movie. It’s over the top gun violence and be warned that blood spills in this movie. Tarantino has out done himself here. I felt his last film Inglorious Basterds was solid but missing a lot. I did no like his playing with history. Django never steps in this it never attempts to change history. It’s just a story set in the South about slavery. The movie is beautifully shot and has one hell of a sound track. The film is also very funny, many moments had me laughing loudly which really surprised me because of the material.

It’s not all great though, the movie is way too long, many scenes drag on almost pointlessly. The third act also falls apart. I wish Quentin would have stayed focused on making a Western. A film about a slave becoming a bounty hunter rocks, and all of that is great fun in the movie. Once it becomes a revenge film the movie changes gears and frankly falls off the tracks. The movie looses its fun feeling and becomes rather off balance. I understand Django wanting revenge but killing almost anyone who is white seemed not in his character. Early in the movie he is opposed to shooting down a killer in front of his own son. Then by the end he could care less about even shooting down women. It just didn’t work and it comes off wrong.

Still even with its odd third act the film is still very strong and visually in many ways a masterpiece. The acting performances alone are worth your time. It was also nice to see a western. If you have problems with some of the political messages or the gun violence I would avoid this movie. If not you must check it out if you have the chance.

Rating: 6 1/2 out of 10

Movie Review: The Three Musketeers(2011)

Okay so it’s another remake, and an obvious attempt to make a tent pole franchise. Still this film feels like the Will Smith film Wild Wild West, a concept filled with action and campyness. So off balance that not even actors trying their best can save this sinking ship… Or crashing flying ship may be a more appropriate here. The plot is pretty much what we’ve seen before in Three Musketeer films, D’Artagnan(Logan Lerman) journeys to Paris, trying to prove himself to his father by becoming a musketeer. Yet he’s angry and filled with angst, for no reason at all, once he shows up to the city he basically starts fight with everyone he can find. Which includes famous Musketeers, Athos, Aramis and Porthos. Who recently have been betrayed by Milady(Milla Jovovich) working along with the power hungry Cardinal(Christophe Waltz) and the Duke of Buckingham(Orlando Bloom) who plots a war between France and Britain using giant flying ships.

This films major flaw is that literally no character gets any depth. The film is called Three Musketeers but yet the three of them barely get any screen time. The film has so many villains and takes so long to extend it’s pointless plot that we get no time with the leads. What really pisses me off about this is that the actors are good here. I liked the Musketeers and I wished they you know were seen on screen. It’s obvious this was a vehicle designed for Lerman, who is fine here but it just seems odd. The film is just obviously obsessed with the flying ships, which in the end, have nothing to do really with the plot. So much money was thrown at the screen but nothing was spent on the script. Lerman’s character has a major issue with a villain… What might it be? Did he kill his father? Kidnap a loved one(That does happen later in the film)? No, he insults D’Artagnan’s horse… I mean this movie just did not seem to understand how to build on anything. Things just happen. Most of the fight scenes at the beginning have no point.

The plot is not hard to screw up, yet they easily do it here. The Musketeers are an after thought. It should have been called: “D’Artagnan and the flying ships”. The one thing I have to compliment the movie on is the fight scenes. The sword fighting is really fun here. No choppy camera work, no shaky cam, the slow-mo in places is silly but actually helps pace some of the fights. Also the actors all really try. Jovovich and Bloom are really fun to watch. They both obviously had a lot of fun playing villains and they don’t hold back. Waltz basically walked his way through to a pay check since his Cardinal doesn’t do much besides sit behind tables and give orders. Still it was hard not to root for the actors as this disaster.

The film is a mess and an obvious attempt to dumb down the Three Musketeers. Too much “comedy” elements that fall flat. Too many times the dialogue is just too modern. Even though the limited amount of sword fights we get are well filmed and planned out, there simply are not enough of them. Besides one large battle the Musketeers mainly blow things up and shoot people, it’s dumb. They also really put all their eggs in one basket that really gives a middle finger to the audience, the film doesn’t wrap anything up. The final battle is over diamonds and two air ships battling. The massive battle is set up and then… Credits. I hate when movies assume a sequel is coming. It’s probably not, so this film simply hates its own audience. It’s a shame because the actors are great and the fights were fun, but everything else is just so bad it’s hard to watch in the end. I did not see this film in 3D… I’m happy about that decision because it doesn’t look like it would have been worth it.

Rating: 2/10

Quentin Tarantino has his lead…

Jamie Foxx will play Django in QT’s “Django Unchained”. If you don’t know the films plot seems to be a former slave named Django, who teams up with German gunslinger to hunt down the Southern slave owner that still has Django’s family. Foxx will Leonardo DiCaprio, Samuel L. Jackson, Christoph Waltz. I love the cast and this is one of my most anticipated films on my list. QT is my opinion is one of the better directors out there. You may love or hate his films but you have to agree they are unique. Inglorious Basterds really worked for me for what it was. I can see this film being a lot like this but probably better. Inglorious Basterds wasn’t really about the Basterds getting revenge, they were just a small piece of the story. The movie was really about a young girl getting revenge over the Nazi that killed her family. Here there will not be too many elements to it. Django will be the key part of the film. Frankly it’s about time a movie like this got made. I’m pumped.

Movie Review: Water For Elephants

Well I never read the book, I know it’s famous and a best seller, just never got to it. I loved the trailer for the movie though. I think the problem for this film is its two stars. Robert Pattinson has to deal with the Twilight shadow casting over his career. Most guys either dislike him or write him off. Reese Witherspoon still can’t shake her idiotic character from Legally Blonde and that’s what people see when she’s on screen. I start with this because both of them rock these roles and are amazing on screen together. Add in the amazing Christoph Waltz as August a leader of a circus who rules with an iron fist and a pinch of crazy. These three along with beautiful direction make this film a must see.

We follow Jacob a student in Cornell who is learning to be a vet. Then one day his life changes dramatically as his Polish mother and father are killed in a car crash. It’s the 1930’s and his father didn’t exactly have money left behind. So Jacob finds himself with no home or job. He jumps on a train that is for the circus. He makes friends and finds himself a job as the circus vet.

While working he falls in love with the main act of the show. This of course is Marlena played by Witherspoon. Problem is she’s married to August who not only looks at her as a wife, but as one of his things that no one else can touch. The circus is on the verge of going broke until August buys an elephant named Rosie. While taking care of the animal Jacob and Marlena become close and a relationship grows. August of course as this goes on becomes more aggressive and his insanity grows. This leads to violence and abuse that is very hard to watch.

This story is not only a love story between two people but between people and the creatures around us. August does not care about people and especially animals. In one brutal scene August beats Rosie the elephant after a show goes wrong. Not only is Jacob and Marlena attached to the elephant but we are too. All the actors though help move this film along, Pattinson is stoic and really shows a lot of charm in the role. While Witherspoon has a harder role to play and is innocent mixed with sexuality, she also looks the part. Waltz is brilliant as August because he mixes charm with anger and insanity. When he’s on screen it’s impossible not to keep your eyes on him.

The look of the film is great, every scene flows together. It also captured the feel of the 1930’s and never at any moment did I feel like we were watching a movie set. This film is for film lovers frankly, it’s a mix of everything and turned out to be a great movie.

Rating: 8.5/10

Quentin Tarantino’s “Django Unchained” looking for actors

I will start with this, I know QT has his lovers and his haters. I for one like the guy and his movies. Unlike others he is looked at under a microscope and his movies held to a higher standard. I guess that is a compliment to his work. He has made classics in my opinion in Pulp Fiction and Resevoir Dogs and even Kill Bill. I enjoyed Death Proof for what it was. That movie gets a lot of flack but I got what it was and had fun with it. Inglorious Basterds had some amazing moments but in a way I feel like the message of the film fell apart.

Anyway his new film which he has finished the script for is on its way to being produced. The plot has been confirmed… SPOILER ALERT………

The film will follows a German gun slinger played by the amazing Christoph Waltz, who teams up with a freed slaved to take down evil plantation owners. This is AWESOME.

End of SPOILERS…

Now rumors are flying around about who would play Django(the freed slave). The leading candidate seems to be Will Smith. I don’t like this idea. Now I’m not a Will Smith hater, frankly I really like the guy. Sure he’s made bad film choices in the past. Still he has range and can pull off a lot of characters, to me though he will stand out in a film like this. I prefer him in the action star role. I personally believe that Idris Elba would be perfect, I just dig the guy I think he would blend into the role better. People would accept it instead of just watching Will Smith kick ass. That’s just my two cents, whoever ends up with the role I’m ready for this movie to come out right now.