Quentin Tarantino's new film, like all of his other works, subject to ferocious debate over why it's not Pulp Fiction is a highly enjoyable, violence-filled blockbuster that surprises the viewer with highly sophisticated dialogues and extraordinary actors.
The movie starts with an interrogation of a French farmer, believed to hide persecuted Jews on his property, carried out by SS-Officer Hans Landa, played by Christof Waltz. Landa persuades the farmer to betray the ones he safeguards and seals their fate. One girl manages to escape and plans her revenge.
The Inglourious Basterds are introduced in the next scene, a US Army die-hard task force, bent on killing as many Nazis as they can, making no distinction between common soldiers and war-criminals.
The downside of the movie is that it puts too much emphasis on lenghty dialogues and the different storylines, bent on converging, appear to compete for their own importance, so that the supposed main-attraction of the Basterds becomes stranded on the side-line only to re-emerge for the grand finale.
After describing its shortcomings, it's time to focus on what makes the movie worth watching:
The actors, Christof Waltz in particular, come across as highly credible and their dialogues, lenghty but intelligent, become the main-attraction of the movie. Tarantino impresses with innovative SFX, camera-angles and his trademark gory scenes.
If you want to see Pulp Fiction, watch Pulp Fiction! Don't make the mistake of comparing Inglourious Basterds to it though. Tarantino, unlike other directors stays true to his style without copying himself, which clearly distinguishes him from most of Hollywood.
Forget you have ever seen Pulp Fiction and you will enjoy Inglourious Basterds!
