08 Feb Staff Movie Review: Django & Lincoln

Django: Unchained A+

Django was a perfectly bloody homage to the spaghetti western genre. Setting it against the backdrop of slavery in the south caused for some discomfort among audiences, but I believe effectiveness and originality are at the heart of any great film, and these are qualities present in all of Tarantino’s works. This film exhibits them as expertly as any before. This is also, in my humble opinion, his best dialogue and soundtrack since Pulp Fiction.

Lincoln B+

There’s not a lot this movie does wrong, technically speaking. Spielberg and Day-Lewis are both masters in their fields, but because of that, along with the weight of the subject, I hold this film to higher standard than others. It did not meet my standards I am sad to say. The film covers only a small portion of Lincoln’s presidency, albeit an important one, and fails to teach us much about the man that we didn’t already know. Still, the film remains compelling and the third act plays out beautifully, not to mention Day-Lewis’s commanding performance throughout.