Django Unchained!!!!

Django Unchained.

I'll admit that at times this review might be seen as biased as I am a massive Tarantino fan and always have been since I first saw Kill Bill 1 when it first came out. This film of course has plenty of Tarantino's traits, a great cast, some funny comedy, extreme violence and plenty of blood as well. 

So to start with the film starts with the scene shown in many trailers before the films release. As Django (Jamie Foxx) is walking along a dusty track in a dark wood with some fellow slaves and his two masters, Dr King Schultz (Christoph Waltz) trundles along with his cabin to buy Django from them. As negotiations go wrong between Dr Schultz and the two masers and blood is shed Django and Dr Schultz make a pact and both ride off into the night.

The film itself follows of course the character of Django as he is saved and made a free man by Dr Schultz, in return Django must point out the Brittle brothers in which Schultz is looking for. As Schultz trains up Django to be a bounty hunter they travel around the different plantations and take out anyone that has a hit on their head. As the duo continue with their work they decide to go and find Django's wife Broomhilda von Schaft to save her from slavery and let Django and his wife live happily ever after. 

As the duo come across a plantation owner Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio) they both realise it is his plantation where Broomhilda is being held as a slave. With Candie being away from the plantation from time to time he has his own personal plantation assistant Stephen (Samuel L. Jackson) take charge. As the trio converse over the buying of some Mandingo fighters what will happen?, will Django and Schultz get what they've gone for or will Candie find out their true intentions and have them killed?

The film itself is the most linear of Tarantino films as the storyline moves along at a steady pace and doesn't cut back to previous scenes or different characters. It sticks with Django and Dr King Schultz and stays with them right through to the end which is what makes this more accessible for people. The storyline is of revenge just like many other Tarantino films but that is to be expected though. Being set in the spaghetti western era where slavery is a common occurrence it allows for some violent scenes to take place in which Tarantino handles in a serious manner. A scene of two dogs attacking a runaway black slave, the whipping of Broomhilda and Mandingo fighting where two slaves fight to the death are all shocking but bring a more serious side to the film and show what slaves will have had to endure.

The performances are memorable, Christoph Waltz is great as he shows a side of wit and intelligence to his character of Dr. King Schultz. Leonardo DiCaprio's character of Calvin Candie is a great performance as it is the first time we see Leo take on the role of a truly evil and nasty person. He fits into the role well, showing some slight intelligence in one scene he can then jump to show a  more violent and sadistic side to his character. Samuel L. Jackson who plays Candie's right hand slave Stephen has to be the best character in the film mainly because of all the funny lines he has. He plays a inquisitive yet harsh man who has grown to rule over Candieland while his master is away and controls everything that happens at the plantation. 

Now some people will think I'm unhinged when I type this but trust me if you're as big a Tarantino fan as myself then you will understand what I am about to say. The gun fight scenes in which showcase all of the blood that splatters the walls to me was comedic genius as I laughed so much at these violent scenes. I say this with great respect and sincerity, the scenes are at times ridiculous with the amount of blood that comes out of the bodies but it does make you laugh. It wouldn't be a Tarantino film if their wasn't any form of blood being splattered up the walls and across the sets.. 

One downside to the film is the length, I myself didn't notice the time and I happily sat and watched the film without thinking of when it would finish. But for some people who find long films a little bit too much to bear then it is best to wait for a DVD release. Another thing I found was that I didn't particularly warm to Jamie Foxx's portrayal as Django, his one liners seem to be said half heartedly and with no passion. 

Overall it is another great addition to Tarantino's filmography and sees him return to top form as a writer and director. If anyone else was to do this film it wouldn't be received too well but because it's Tarantino we all accept it and love it for what it is. He can safely tick off another era on his list, maybe next he will try his hand at a sci-fi, superhero or romcom film..........who knows?

9.5/10.

Zero Dark Thirty!!!!

Zero Dark Thirty.

When I first heard about Zero Dark Thirty and what the storyline of the film would entail I thought to myself that it couldn't be done, especially in a respectful way and to not cause too much offence. But then I heard about who would direct the film, The Hurt Locker's Kathryn Bigelow and my faith was restored in the film straight away.

The film starts quite shockingly with a pitch black screen and all you hear is the audio of workers in the twin towers speaking to emergency service workers after the first plane hit the north tower. The film then jumps to two years later in a small tinned roof hanger where CIA agent Dan (Jason Clarke) is asking a detainee some questions, it then gets intense as Dan waterboards the detainee to gain valuable information. Looking on and watching the torture is a new recruit in the form of Maya (Jessica Chastain) who has alot to learn while living and working in Pakistan. 

The story follows the main characters of Dan and Maya working as CIA agents in Pakistan with other government agents tasked to try to find out where the location of Osama Bin Laden is and to take him down and stop the threat posed by Al-Qaeda.  

As the film progresses at a steady pace you become totally submerged in the narrative of the film, as the C.I.A team gather information from waterboarding detainees and working on leads to the top men they come across no valuable information. With top bosses coming in and demanding "I want targets and I want them dead" it's a very stark reality that what they are doing is finding out where the top Al-Qaeda men are and taking them  out one by one. The film is mainly aimed at following the long ten year career of Maya so we see all the terrorist attacks around the world in her ten year career on screen and in my opinion handled with such great care and respect. 

As C.I.A agents come and go over the ten years you see that Maya is adamant on finding OBL and taking him down once and for all, stopping at nothing to find him. With torture being dismissed by President Obama via a real interview conducted with the President shown on a TV the team adjusts their tactics. With some leads finally coming up Maya is adamant on working on a courier lead that she believes will lead them to OBL and his whereabouts. Meeting with top official C.I.A Director Leon Panetta (James Galdolfini) Maya and her team must convince him that the third male person in the compound they have found in Pakistan is the wanted Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden. Soon enough they get the go ahead and a strike force team is setup to fly in by two helicopters, enter the compound, take down OBL and collect as much evidence as possible.

Soon enough your in the helicopter with the special agents about hit the compound and the film shifts gears and slows right down with some of the most intense scenes I've seen this year. Your hands start to sweat and your heart beats really fast as your on the edge of your seat and sucked right into the action. Even though you know what outcome of the film is going to be you become truly immersed in the scenes. 

The film itself in my eyes is a triumph, the storyline of the film shows the meticulous work that goes into evidence gathering and how they follow up possible leads. The use of fast paced scenes for the first three quarters to then juxtapose and slow right down to the last quarter of the film is very well done. With just low light and sound used in the compound scenes it has a simple feel to it and is nothing too overly "hollywood" and feels truly real. Jessica Chastain's character portrayal as Maya is flawless, she starts off as a shy, timid agent straight out of Harvard and transforms into a swearing, confrontational, determined agent who will stop at nothing to take down OBL. The film doesn't dwell on past attacks, it shows them briefly and moves on handling them with the upmost respect. If their was any film this year that I would highly recommend seeing then this would be it as it is a truly amazing cinematic film and well worth a watch.

10/10.