6.5/10
The biggest surprise about Tarantino's new movie is how...undistinguished it seems. I may have disliked Inglourious Basterds with a passion, but it was certainly a unique vision. Compare with Django Unchained - if you've seen the trailer, you've seen the movie. I think part of the problem is that Tarantino is no longer a director who has to make movies - I hesitate to use the term "spinning his wheels" but that's definitely what Django feels like.
It's not all bad though. Some have complained the movie is something of a slog, but I never felt the lengthy running time, which is always a plus. Leonardo DiCaprio is very good, but Christoph Waltz steals the show. Almost to a fault, in fact - as soon as Waltz's character isn't on screen, you start to miss his presence. Particularly noticeable in the scenes where Foxx has to carry the movie on his own. Foxx isn't a bad actor, but Django is such a blank slate compared to Waltz and DiCaprio's characters that he needs to be surrounded with some, uh, colour and suffers plainly when it's not there.
Overall, generally entertaining with some ups and downs. Probably my second-to-least favourite Tarantino movie, but nothing overly atrocious or even memorable, really. Which, as I said, is probably the biggest surprise of all.
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