Django Unchained

Django Unchained sees the return of film maestro, Quentin Tarantino, this time he turns his camera to the genre of Spaghetti westerns alongside the trials and tribulations of slavery. Doctor King Schultz (Cristoph Waltz), a bounty hunting German by trade finds himself searching the wild west for a group of run away villains and overssers, the Brittle brothers though with no real leads he finds himself someone who might know where they are.  Coming across the group of slavers, our hero's journey begins as Schultz frees Django (Jamie Foxx), a slave sold only recently after trying to flee with his wife. Understanding Django to know the brothers by sight, he offers his terms as such if Django aims him in finding the Brittle brothers he'll allow Django to walk away as a free man. With Little choice Django agrees to help though as the pair find themselves bonding and the Brittle brothers bounty lies safely in their belonging, Schultz sees the potential of young Django and makes another appeal. Offering Django one winters worth of bounty hunting, gun training and tale trading later and Schultz promises to not only give him a trade but also help rescue his wife from the clucthes of the sinister plantation owner, Calvin J Candie (Leonardo Dicaprio).
 
With the premise giving Tarantino the revenge spin he loves flowing in his films and allowing him to structure a truly unique and magnificent cast in his western play ground, Lead by Jamie Foxx who plays the titular Django bringing enough suave and cool to drown the audience. While Foxx's Django is perfectly cast and as the film cartwheels on you'd think the show was his, yet Christoph Waltz again like he was in Inglourious Basterds is giving a performance which makes you laugh, gasp and leaves you in awe. Yet even with both Fox and Waltz screen snatching the shots as the two lone gunner heroes of the west, rising up from the plantations and giving the film a stand out antagonist who really does nothing but impress with his vile yet slick nature, Leonardo DiCaprio gives the film that face of evil as the slightly unhinged Monsieur Calvin Candie. Not forgetting the ensemble of supporting cast including Kerry Washington, the brilliance of Samuel L Jackson and even a brief appearance of Franco Nero the original Django.
 
 Django Unchained is a rolling roller-coaster of classic revenge sliced up in a Spaghetti serving of Western brought to you from the ever churning mind of Quentin Tarantino. Not just the name of the titular character for unchained, for Django, the adventure has been riding into the sunset since the classic 1966 film simply titled Django. When Django played by Franco Nero rolled into town dispensing justice with a coffin on his back and the grief of a widow, he became one of the defining actors of the genre alongside the likes of Clint Eastwood in the dollar series. Following on with almost 30 titles and unofficial spin off's Django lived on, though critically none ever lived up to Nero's portrayal not even Nero himself when he returned to the role, it seems the days of Django's reign were truly gone. That is until the present day where we see Foxx's own unique and cool gunslinger dishing out vengeance, Gratuitous 'Tarantino' violence and an almost impossible to beat level of suave. Django Unchained isn't just a good film, it's a good representation of the journey Tarantino has taken in film making and all the years from Pulp Fiction through Kill Bill has lead to a formulated, shining and ambitious narrative in the form of this slick new pic. Unchained Django most certainly is and at that it is certainly a must see for fans of westerns, Tarantino lovers and film goers one and all.

9  /  10

FIN.