Django Unchained (2012)

“How do you like the bounty hunting business?”

“Kill white people and get paid for it? What's not to like?”

            There are only a few directors that I know I will never be disappointed with their movies. Those directors are Mel Brooks, Alfred Hitchcock, Fritz Lang, Christopher Nolan, and Quentin Tarantino. These directors are/were imaginative and know/knew how to get the most out of their actors and the stories being told. But out of all of these directors the most creative and imaginative one is Tarantino. The reason I feel Tarantino is creative is because he never holds back. He writes his own films as well as directs them. He knows what he wants out of a story and he knows exactly how it should look. Tarantino also seems to be the most enthusiastic director around because he is such a fan of cinema. All of his movies have homage to different movies he grew up but they are done in his style. I was not surprised that Tarantino wrote and directed Django Unchained which is a Western. The man absolutely took the Western genre and made it his own.

            On a dark cold night a group of slaves are being forced through the woods by two white men. A voice rings out in the night from a wagon with a waving tooth on top of it. The voice belongs to a man named Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz) and he is looking for the slave Django (Jamie Foxx). Without batting an eye Schultz takes out the two white men. He kills one of the horses which falls over to the side and breaks the leg of the one man. When Schultz is ready to leave with Django he tells the other slaves they can kills the other white man and they descend on him in vengeance. Schultz lets Django take the other man’s coat and shoes and they travel off together.

            The following day Schultz and Django enter a small western town. The people are beyond shocked to see a black man riding a horse though the town. Schultz commandeers a saloon telling the owner to call for the sheriff first before he gets the Marshall. While waiting for the sheriff Schultz informs Django that he is a bounty hunter and he is looking for a group of brothers. He does not know what these brothers look like but Django does and that is why he needs his help. After they find the brother Schultz promises Django his freedom, a horse, and a few dollars. The sheriff cockily arrives at the saloon ready to intimidate Schultz and his black companion. Schultz comes out of the saloon and shoots the sheriff point blank in the stomach and then in the head. He yells out that now the Marshall can come for him. When the Marshall arrives Schultz explains that the sheriff is really a wanted man who has done some crimes that need to be punished.

            Eventually Schultz and Django track down the wanted brothers to a plantation owned by someone known as Big Daddy (Don Johnson). They go to the plantation under the guise of wanting to buy a woman slave. Django spots all three of the brothers. In a rage, instead of waiting for Schultz he shoots two of the brothers. Schultz comes just in time to kill the other brother and to save both their asses. That night Big Daddy is pissed and rounds up an army of men to attack Schultz and Django. They find the wagon and descend upon it from the hills. Unfortunately they do not realize that Django and Schultz are on another hill. Schultz shoots the wagon and it explodes killing some of the men. Big Daddy was riding away when Django shoots him down.

            After this incident Schultz makes a deal with Django. They partner up for the winter as bounty hunters and in the spring Schultz will take Django to his wife wherever they manage to track her down.

            In the spring they find out his wife Hildy (Kerry Washington) has been bought by cocky plantation owner in Mississippi Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio). Django and Schultz travel down there to get Hildy. Their plan was quiet but as events unfold it turned into a loud bang.

            Another fantastic aspect of Tarantino’s movies is his choice of casting. This one of the best casts I have ever seen in a movie every one of the actors was utter perfection in their roles. Christoph Waltz beyond a doubt deserved his Oscar for Dr. King Schultz. I love the way the man just disappears into his roles and adds more to them through his acting style and his mannerisms. I am not a huge fan of Jaime Foxx but I really liked him in this. While Waltz was the outgoing character Django was restrained. You can feel all of Django’s pain, sadness, rage, and need for revenge through Foxx. Leonardo DiCaprio deserves more credit and recognition for his role in this movie. He was awesome. Calvin was such a dick and DiCaprio played that so well. I was captivated by him and the character as soon as he came on screen. Kerry Washington I have not seen in many things but I liked her. She did not really have that much to do or say but she was good. Samuel Jackson was insane. The man just steals every scene he is in. Don Johnson has some good scenes. He did not really stand out but his scenes were my favorite.

               On that note…My favorite scene of the whole movie was when Big Daddy and his men try to invade the wagon to kill Schultz and Django. As the men are riding down to the wagon the scene cuts to them before they invade. It is the entire group bitching about the bags over the heads and how they cannot breathe or see out of the small eye holes. I loved that scene so much because it reminded me of something Mel Brooks would have done. It was so hysterical from beginning to end. Tarantino knows to perfectly blend comedy and drama. The way I view his comedy scenes are dark, they are darkly comedic. All of his characters and all of his scenes have that darkness with a comedic element to them. Like, they are serious but not super serious you can still laugh like crazy at them.

            It took me three years to finally sit down and watch Django Unchained and I cannot believe it took me that long to do so. This movie was so much fun to watch. From the moment it started I was hooked and also mad at myself for having waited so long to see it. You do not have to be a Quentin Tarantino fan to enjoy Django Unchained. Just bring your love of movies, good stories, writing, directing, and awesome characters with you and you will enjoy the hell out of it. Absolutely see this as soon as you can if you have not seen it already.