Presenting...this blog's first movie review!

Inglourious Basterds

Rated: R for strong graphic violence, language and brief sexuality

Directed by: Quentin Tarantino
Starring: Brad Pitt, Diane Kruger, Melanie Laurent, Eli Roth, Christoph Waltz

Quentin Tarantino's movies have a reputation for loads of gory action, and judging by his movies that I've seen (Kill Bill and Reservoir Dogs), it's a well-deserved reputation. As a result, I was expecting more of the same from Tarantino's World War II film Inglourious Basterds. Unfortunately, while the movie contains plenty of action, the movie's uneven pacing puts a damper on an otherwise good movie.

Inglourious Basterds follows two plotlines that eventually come together. In the first, Brad Pitt plays Lt. Aldo Raine, an American soldier who forms a special unit of Jewish-American soldiers to fight the Nazis during World War II. Their mission: put the fear of God into the Third Reich by brutally killing as many Nazis as they can. The second plotline revolves around Shosanna Dreyfus (Melanie Laurent), a Jewish woman whose family is brutally murdered by the SS in the film's opening scene, and her plan to take revenge on the Nazis by using the opening night of a propaganda film as a deathtrap for the Reich's high command.

Judging by the description of the plots above, it's probably not surprising that this movie pulls no punches in its depiction of violent action. This kind of thing is to be expected from a Tarantino flick, of course, and most of the violence happens to Nazis, perhaps the most unsympathetic antagonists to ever exist in a movie. Still, it can be disturbing at times.

Unfortunately, the impact and entertainment of this action is interrupted by the film's uneven pacing, which kills some of the excitement in the movie and is the chief reason the movie doesn't score higher. The action scenes are too few and far between, and between them are extended scenes of conversation which advance the plot, but often drag on far too long and become boring in short order. This most frequently occurs in the sections involving Shosanna and her plot.

The fault for the mundane conversations can't be laid at the feet of the actors, though. Just about everyone in this movie puts in a good performance, with Brad Pitt stealing the show as the smart-aleck Lt. Raine, whose antics and wisecracks make up much of the film's mostly dark comedy. I think it's a shame that the movie didn't feature more of that element, personally. The film also has a wonderful soundtrack that always seems to add the right emotional background to the scene, and never feels at odds with what's on the screen regardless of how modern the music sounds.

Overall, Inglourious Basterds is far from a masterpiece, but it's still good enough to be worth a look at the theater.

Score: **1/2 out of ****