Well, much like his prior movie
Death Proof, Tarantino swings and largely misses with
Inglorious Basterds. It is a better movie than
Death Proof, which I found to be a few minutes of awesome sandwiched in between two long boring stretches of Quentin trying to recapture earlier successes. But that doesn't mean that Basterds turns out to be better. The lengthy stretches of dialog do a better job of building up the tension, at least when there are Nazis present. But much of it just lies there, waiting for something to happen. I'm sure the movie insiders appreciate the various discussions of cinema, and probably treat the whole exercise as some kind of fable on the role of movies in society...but for me, I found myself reaching for the fast forward button.
That's not to say the movie has no moments. The concluding scenes, especially a shot with a movie projected onto the smoke in a burning theater, are suitably eerie. But as with Death Proof, the good moments are few and far between.
And whoever thought sticking in a Mike Myers cameo was a good idea...they're fired. Two stars.
