Reservoir Dogs

Finally, a movie palette cleanser to get the taste of Borderlands out of my mouth. Tarantino's first full film and it immediately sells his style, ability to direct, and ability to keep us engaged in a small group of characters with defined personalities and charming characters. With his style oozing from every shot, it's easy to see why people fell in love with this director. That being said, this is far from his best work. Held up by issues with what I consider an edgy tone and overall distaste for human life, this movie struggles to hold a proper story and is not the best work of his, primarily due to its structure. Let's get into the first work of Tarantino, Reservoir Dogs!

PLOT: A bit of a mess.

While I like Quentin Tarantino's manipulation of time in other movies, this one definitely struggles from his first-time editorial choices. Out of order stories work, but this one is a bit confusing and hard to pick through. It doesn't help that most of it is in one place as a result of the budget and need to keep things restricted to its characters. That being said, this story works very well in keeping you in suspense of the traitor of the group and the true villain of the movie. It additionally works very well when it's just two people talking to one another. The best parts of the plot are when we dial back the action and focus on two well-written characters played by excellent actors. Speaking of...

CHARACTERS: Character acting at its best.

Surprised no one wanted red, considering it sounds kinda hard. That being said, these characters are all consistently locked in the setting with one another, essentially encouraging the actors to keep the dialogue snappy and quick-witted to banter around. I consider this in a similar category as 12 Angry Men or even scenes from movies like The Batman, with several high-pedigree actors standing around acting at each other. It's amazing to watch, as many of them were upcoming character actors like Steve Buscemi and Tim Roth, but also established actors like Michael Madsen or Harvey Keitel. Thus, we get an amazing amount of just stellar acting and excellent writing to boot, which we will get into later.

SHOTS: Quick and focused.

Nothing stellar to shout about here, this movie just utilizes the camera in ways that early Tarantino would. Details focused on, story kept within the shots, and an understanding of proper composition. It's his early work and it still shows a tease of the directorial prowess of a man with very few misses in his collection.

SOUND: His earliest work!

Similar to many of his future works, this film utilizes mainstream songs in a creative and fun way. I forgot that this was the first big cultural use of "Hooked on a Feeling" after watching Guardians of the Galaxy in my youth, so it's jarring to see it used here. But, it's a great usage, just as most of his music usage is. It's rough around the edges, but has some bangers in there.

WRITING: Sharp and witty, albeit a bit edgy.

I LOVE Tarantino's writing style, focusing on characters above all else. Sometimes, you can develop a story far better by building your characters through writing. Each character has a different reaction to each situation and it's very clearly shown by the writing. The jokes are also sharp and hit quick, leaving you with a laugh before possibly cutting to the point. This movie leaves you kinda stunned by its pace. That being said, I think Tarantino can get a bit edgy, especially with his use of slurs in most of his work. While I appreciate him treating characters as real people, I don't need to see Steve Buscemi use the n-word liberally. But, it's fascinating as a time capsule of what people could've been like at the time if that was a realistic part of the world. That being said, it's definitely not enough to detract from this stellar writing.

LITTLE THINGS: The reveal (spoilers)!

I'm genuinely surprised by how early the reveal of the traitor is and how much they play around with it. The explanation is REALLY well done and gives context to previous scenes as well as overall building his character with flashbacks. The tip scene actually gives away the reveal pretty early on if you're paying attention to whom rats out whom. It's a fascinating case of showing us a clear look at each character in the first five minutes, with each character being demonstrated by how they react to tipping. I won't spoil, but I will say pay attention to each person's reaction and who gets how many lines. It's very well-done.

VERDICT: An excellent first film.

That is by all means a complement, but it is his first major film. Struggles with story? Yes. Maybe a bit mispaced? Sure. But, it holds some of Tarantino's best character work and a ton of fun reveals, while also playing it mostly straight. I'd say watch it if you never have, it's worth at least one watch!

SCORE: 8/10, a solid start.