Inglourious Basterds

I will state up front that this may be a moderately biased review, as I am a HUGE Quentin Tarantino fan. His unparalleled action scenes, witty dialogue and unforgettable characters are all staples of his filmmaking, though he always makes sure that his movies never become too commercial by putting his own unique stamp on them. In simple terms, Tarantino makes movies which have the ability to please the masses, but can also please more educated film buffs.

Having said that, Inglourious Basterds is without question Tarantino's best movie since Pulp Fiction, as the director explores the war genre. Thankfully, the movie never divulges into unnecessarily long combat scenes or goes too deep into the often depressing lives of soldiers in World War II. In this way, QT creates an authentic (though not typical) war film, with his own individual touches.

As with all Tarantino films, Basterds features a strong ensemble cast, lead by Brad Pitt as Lt. Aldo Raine, the leader of the Basterds. However, the actor who really shines here is Christoph Waltz who plays the "Jew Hunter" Hans Landa. As a Nazi commander, Waltz must act both ruthless and (seemingly) sympathetic, and he does so excellently (in four languages, no less!).

Having said this, there are no bad performances in the movie, and Tarantino once again makes us feel wrong for rooting for the controversial acts of the Basterds, a group of Nazi-scalping American Jews.

However, the movie is about much more than the troupe's brutal acts; at its core, Basterds is about Landa's chase after an escaped Jewish girl, named Shoshanna Dreyfus (played by Melanie Laurent). This game of cat-and-mouse leads to the entanglement of a variety of characters, including the Basterds, which eventually culminates into one of the most exciting (yet most historically inaccurate) film climaxes of the year.

I don't want to give away too much about the film, but be warned that, like all Tarantino films, Inglourious Basterds features its fair share of blood and guts. This aside, rent out the film if you are looking for a truly fun and engrossing movie to watch with friends. Even though its not entirely serious nature means that it won't go home with a ton of statues on Oscar night, it still stands out as one of the finest movies of the year.

10/10