“Inglourious Basterds” is an entertaining ride that will thrill fans of Quentin Tarantino’s other movies but may cause history buffs to squirm. Be warned, the movie is an absurdly fun piece of fiction with little regard for history or even plausibility.
Set in Nazi occupied France, the film is seen through two viewpoints. The first is a select group of Jewish-American soldiers led by Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) on a mission to agitate the Germans by brutally killing and scalping every Nazi soldier they find. The second viewpoint belongs to Shosanna Dreyfus (Melanie Laurent), a young Jewish woman who watches as Nazi soldiers brutally murder her entire family at the beginning of the film. As the movie progresses, both parties end up on the same mission: kill Adolph Hitler (who is played energetically, but not quite convincingly, by German television actor Martin Wuttke).
The film is typical Tarantino and is full of the kind of gory gun battles and surprising camera angles that have come to define his unique style. In several suspenseful scenes, the camera darts to minute details, such as a waitress dishing cream out of a bowl, successfully projecting the uncomfortable fear that the characters are feeling onto the audience. The film’s frequent use of headshots taken from disjointed upward angles adds to this feeling of uneasiness that emanates throughout much of the film.
While it doesn’t quite live up to the hype that has surrounded every Tarantino movie since “Reservoir Dogs,” the edgy aesthetic, entertaining dialogue and suspenseful plotline are enough to make “Inglourious Basterds” something that most people will enjoy and Tarantino nerds may obsess over. Those who cannot handle violence, however, would be wise to pass on it and its joyfully wanton Nazi mutilation.
Rated: R, Grade: A-