REVIEW - Inglourious Basterds

Notice, this is not a RAVE, just a REVIEW. The movie fell short of deserving a RAVE.

I can see why so many writers have praised Chistoph Waltz's performace as Col. Hans Landa over Brad Pitt's as Lt. Aldo Raine. Waltz is maniacally over the top at times, in a good way.

I liked the film - perhaps even loved it - yet somehow it was too typically Tarantino. Good character development, although maybe a little drawn out in places, and once you realized those repeated drawn out stretches were solely set ups for the next slice of action, the formula seemed a little artificial.

QT's work isn't reliably excellent:

Reservoir Dogs (1992) was shocking but patchy.
Pulp Fiction (1994) was perfect.
Four Rooms (1995) was again patchy (he only directed 1/4 of this film).
Jackie Brown (1997) was fabulous.
Kill Bill (2003/4) was mixed (ground-breaking but pointlessly long).
Sin City (2005) was just plain lame (The Rt. Hon. Roger Espley * points out that Mr T. only directed one scene from Sin City, so he's largely absolved of this stinker)
Grindhouse - Death Proof (2007) was shabbier than the B-movie roots it tried to emulate.

* Roger also claims Tarantino directed From Dusk Til Dawn, but he only wrote the screenplay (presumably getting drunker and drunker as he did so - have you seen it???)

Therefore, the so-so nature of Inglourious Basterds should come as no surprise.