Inglourious Basterds Mini-Review

I had a chance to check the new Quentin Tarantino movie this past weekend, and boy was I glad I did. The movie was good. Enough action with crazy Tarantino-esque dialogue-heavy scenes that build tension. It's a great, non-historically acurate World War II fantasy that should be watched by anyone with a love for a good time. I don't want to give up too much during this mini-review, so consider this spoiler free.

Quick story re-cap in case you haven't heard much about this. The movie starts with the interrogation of a French dairy farmer who is suspected of housing Jewish refugees in Nazi occupied France. Things don't go well for the Jews (a common theme in World War II), and only one survives the encounter. The story then moves to the formation of a guerrilla warfare unit sanctioned by the U.S. to pretty much wreak havoc behind enemy lines. At their command is Lt. Aldo Raines, played by Brad Pitt. He is not the protagonist of this movie. His character is more like a piece of an ensemble. A pivotal piece, but the movie is not entirely about "The Basterds".

The flow of the story is broken up into chapters that jump around through the war. It all pretty much comes together in the end, when elements of each chapter meet up at a movie premiere for the latest Nazi propaganda film "Nation's Pride". From here, it builds to a highly rewarding (for the viewer) ending.

This is a fun movie. Each actor/actress was well cast in their roles. Quentin seems to work well within the constraints of his story, since it's set in WWII, he doesn't get to go on-and-on about pop culture like he did in his previous movies, but it doesn't show like he might have found himself at a loss for words when writing this. In fact, I'm pretty sure there will be a director's cut version of the film hitting video soon where one can enjoy in the excesses of a Tarantino script. But, for now, just check out the movie. It's definitely worth a matinee screening, or if you're cheap like me, the first show at an AMC theater on the weekends isn't more than $6 bucks.