“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.