Seeing these two cinematic juggernauts not only return, but together in a project was enough to go and check this out with much anticipation.
I know Tarantino can be an acquired taste. But you cannot deny his talent and passion for film-making. I will still never forget my first Tarantino experience, which was Kill Bill Vol. 1. It certainly introduced me to my next step in film watching and discover more mature films. Oh, and of course with a little bit of heavy violence along the way.
As for his latest project, I really enjoyed it. But the path that got me to that conclusion was one that I don't often take as it gradually snuck up on me.
From the get go, I could already feel Tarantino's hand-prints all over this. It was shot immaculately, the time period looked incredibly authentic, the choice of music in the soundtrack and use of the radio in a lot of scenes really felt you had been transported to Hollywood in the late 1960's. Plus, the Tarantino style of dialogue continues to be alive and well and very effective in many memorable scenes.
One thing that was missing from me to match the rest of the other high-quality aspects, was the story. There definitely was a story in there. It just got lost in the many strong individual scenes that did not quite help develop the main story.
While a lot of those scenes were really good and vintage Tarantino, not many of them seemed to connect and feel like one story with a beginning, middle and end.
It didn't help that there was a sub-plot going on that felt unnecessary and a waste of time if I was brutally honest. With the duration being 2hrs 40mins, that sub-plot amongst other things could have made the film flow much better at a more suitable 2hr duration.
The performances on the whole were very good. It was great seeing Leonardo DiCaprio back in the saddle and boy did he give a strong performance. If you remember the fire he showed in his character in Django Unchained, it's more of the same and it was glorious to watch.
Same goes for Brad Pitt as his smooth talking bad-assery felt like an enhanced of his character from Inglourious Basterds.
For Margot Robbie, while her performance was perfectly fine, it was her story that was the aforementioned sub-plot that I would happily to get rid of. Her character sadly did not seem necessary to the story.
It was great seeing Emile Hirsch and Timothy Olyphant be part of a Tarantino film and they both did a good job, especially Olyphant as he has a terrific segment with DiCaprio at one point.
It was also a wonderful surprise seeing Dakota Fanning, who I only remember as a kid in War Of The Worlds. Her performance was surprisingly chilling and it showed me a much different side to the younger of the Fanning sisters.
Despite there also being other big names such as Al Pacino, Damian Lewis, I didn't feel they needed to be there except for maybe just to say that they have now been in a Tarantino film.
I feel that despite its clear problems, there was plenty in there to make it a highly enjoyable experience and really liking the film on the whole.
I wasn't sure what to make of it for the most part. But as the film went on, the world that Tarantino replicated of Hollywod in the late 1960's gradually absorbed into me. Once it completely got me, I was just loving seeing this time period with the soundtrack in the background and making me feel like I was cruising down Sunset Boulevard, with the top down and embracing the California sunshine.
I can't see this pleasing the majority of general audiences. It might divide fans of Tarantino. I feel the hardcore ones like myself will love this. The casual fans might see this as a bit of slog but ending with a memorable final scene that contains many aspects that reminds of why they love Tarantino.
But I feel whether you end up liking this or not, the best experience possible is on the big screen.
Rating: 8/10
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