Reservoir dogs is the first move by the ever so electrifying film maker Quintin Tarantino. Having watched (and loved) many of him films up until this point, be it the recent Once upon a time in Hollywood or the infamous Pulp fiction, it was really exciting to watch his very first body of work on a personal level. This movie was particularly interesting for me because I considered it a chance to try and understand his growth as a filmmaker, as he has gone on to creative many more critically acclaimed films from this point onwards in his career.
Since the expectations were so high from the start, the movie really had to deliver to make me happy (not a good mindset if are going into a movie hoping to enjoy it).
And truth be told: it didn’t really blow me away as I was expecting it to do so (which kind of made me feel bad but again, I did this to myself lol.)
Now don’t get me wrong, the movie was good more or less, but it simply lacked a lot of things that I have come to expect from his works. For starters, the movie had a some iconic scenes and it was a fairly laid back film (typical Tarantino style), however it was not nearly as polished as his other movies such as Pulp fiction or Kill Bill. For example, It didn’t have the same vibe nor the impact on pop culture as Pulp fiction. It was fairly laid back but it was quite one dimensional. There were no interconnected stories to keep your attention, but a single story with the same characters playing within the same plot. Hence, the movie felt a bit bland because of it somewhat monotonous plot.
Also the ending was kind of unexpected and off putting. For example, in most of his movies, the endings are dramatic, show stopper chain of event which put a definite end to the film. In this movie however, the ending was, I feel way too stretched out. There was no definite action that let the audience know that the film had ended. The story, I feel did not finish on a high note, which was kind of a bummer for me.
And lastly, the characters in movie were somewhat ambiguous. I could not really understand their motives, and even if I thought I did, they acted in completely random ways. Now don’t get me wrong, randomness in characters is mostly a good thing, after all you wouldn’t want the audience to be able to guess your every move. But when the characters do the exactly opposite things to their personality on the screen or things that really make no sense to the average viewer, then it become bad. The whole movie had me confused regarding the purpose of the characters. It was real head scratcher for me at times, and that made my head hurt and my stomach upside down.
Now it wouldn’t be fair for me to say that the movie was “bad”. No, far from it, the movie was actually quite enjoyable. But it certainly lacked some of things that I have come to love about Tarantino films, which made it a disappointing watch for me personally. From the lack of an enthralling plot to weird character design, the movie was at best an average watch.
However, all in all, this movie did show this growth arc as a filmmaker in general. The movie was not as good as his later works but it did have the same Tarantino feel to it. Hence, its safe to say that he learnt a lot from this (somewhat roughly put together) movie which led him to make polished masterpieces that made him the man he is today. Hence, he really did grow as a writer and director from his earlier works, which is a good inspiration for people starting out to make something big in life.
You fall, you learn and you walk better the next time.
Cheers!
= )
Honestblogs 