Whenever you think QT may be growing up, his inner and outer nerds trip him up and you're left baffled as to whether there were more steps forward than back. Here, he handles a pan-European cast with quite some panache, shows a reasonable degree of restraint on the ultraviolence, and holds back from being sucked in by the less interesting part of his set-up, the Brad Pitt-led Nazi-hunting Basterds. But then he plunders one war film soundtrack too many, and can't resist the pointlessly parodic scenes, most notable an obligatory ranting Hitler.
Still, even Tarantino having a laugh is more interesting than most directors being serious. What always saves his bacon is the way his fanatical love of cinema shines through. Also, the ample screentime given to Christophe Waltz's cheerfully amoral SS bastard Colonel Hans Landa was a perceptive move: you can't take your eyes off him, even while squeamishly watching through your fingers, aware of another imminent act of brutalism.
7/10
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