Silent letters are stupid and I don’t like Jamie Fox, but such nuisances are beside the point. It’s the plot of Django Unchained, a historic epic of sorts in which Fox plays a “nigger” slave turned contract killer, that’s the problem. The first half or so presents an interesting plotline as we travel with Django, led by fellow bounty hunter King Schultz; Christoph Waltz as the movie’s coolest character; to a “MISSISSIPPI” plantation to free his (Django’s) estranged wife. The final stretch is where everything sort of falls apart. Quentin Tarantino may be one of the best movie-makers pop cinema has to offer, yes, but this one suffers from what seems to be a simple case of artistic overindulgence. That final stretch, which begins with a ridiculous shoot-out, comes across as an unnecessary tack-on to what, though nowhere near his Inglourious Basterds magnum opus, could’ve been an enjoyable movie.

A dinner scene involving a slave named Stephen and a secret revealed unravels too conveniently; there isn’t enough reason given for Stephen’s sudden plot-turning suspicion; but there are moments of genuine tension there. You wonder, if only for a minute or two, whether or not the protagonists will make it out alive. That’s it though. There is no real tension or suspense anywhere else in the movie, which also lacks in the way of humor. Violence breaks itself for chuckle time and sometimes that works; a scene involving a blind lynch mob on horseback nears hilarity; but the movie’s many comedy attempts too often fall flat. Quentin Tarantino composed the words, but the dialogue is missing his signature zing. There’s not really any cleverness or grand irony here. Nothing wows, at least not in a positive sense. It’s just a slightly engaging slave story that runs too long.

my rating : 3 of 5

2012