After watching this movie, I feel like I understand so many more pop culture and Reddit references. Here’s my review:
The entire main cast of Reservoir Dogs
Synopsis and spoiler-free section:
Quentin Tarantino directed, wrote, and starred in his 1992 film, Reservoir Dogs – a movie about a group of six thieves (all of whom are under the aliases “Mr. (Colour)”), who are in partnership to rob a diamond store. The story follows a somewhat non-linear format, where we flash between the present time and the past, used to illustrate the characters’ backgrounds. The present story line follows the events after their failed diamond robbery, inside a warehouse; a member of the group has been shot and is on the verge of death, some members are no where to be found, and some suspect that there is a rat among their group.
Digression, Part I:
Digression, if you need to be reminded of the definition, is “a temporary departure from the main subject in speech or writing” (thanks, Google). And this is what I consider to be the best part of any Quentin Tarantino movie, and thus why it has to be the first thing I talk about. In Reservoir Dogs, like in his other movies, you will find some random conversion that doesn’t seem to progress the plot of the movie at all, and doesn’t have to do anything with the movie in general (besides maybe for some character building). It’s what separates storytelling through written forms from storytelling through visual forms – you can spend as much time as you want on something that doesn’t progress a story in a book, but generally not so much in a movie. That being said, the digression done in Tarantino movies are excellent and pretty much necessary – they give his movies the quality and character that everyone who watches his movies know and love. More about the digressions can be found below for those who have watched the movie.
Pretty much my favourite scene in the movie.
Visuals and sound:
So starting off with the visuals, I wouldn’t say there was anything awfully adventurous done with the camera itself, but the way they edited the film to incorporate their back stories is interesting. It seems to be a reoccurring theme that Tarantino would use for some of his movies following Reservoir Dogs. There are a few scenes here and there that looked visually cool, but there really isn’t anything interesting about the visuals aside from the flashback editing, in my opinion.
The sound is more interesting. Reservoir Dogs has as reoccurring theme throughout the movie that involves a not so enthusiastic radio DJ. And with this, that allows the movie to display music that was popular at the time, and thus, allows for some further insight into what the characters are like. It illuminates the fact that they are humans “just like us” and the fact that they are dangerous criminals.
Just dancin’ ~
Recommended for:
I think this movie is really funny, and it is just an enjoyable film for anyone who wants to watch something humourous that doesn’t rely on succumbing to toilet humour. It’s a thoughtful kind of funny – the kind of funny that hits you when you don’t really expect it to, or the kind of funny that lies with subtlty. The flow of the movie is very natural like that, and it keeps the characters interesting. I only wish that there was more of that.
So as a theme of Tarantino’s movies, this movie is more than a “little” bloody. Squeamish? Yeah, I don’t recommend it. I’m not terribly squeamish with blood and gore, but a couple of scenes had me fidgeting in my seat.
I will also say that this movie absolutely does not pass the Bechdel Test (if you don’t know what that is, check out this handy new page that I made), considering that there is not a single significant female character in the entire movie. In fact, I can only recall one significant character who is not a Caucasian male. Reservoir Dogs has a lot going for it – diversity is not one of them. I won’t open a Pandora’s Box on this discussion right now (because there is a lot to discuss on this subject – they are whole university courses); Tarantino probably wasn’t trying to promote the understanding of social issues with this film, but the lack of diversity is worth noting and worth thinking about while watching this movie (or any movie, for that matter).
Now go watch it if you haven’t, okay? OKAY??
Specific analyses (spoilers ahead):
Scroll down to the TLDR/ratings section to see the final verdict if you don’t want to see any spoilers (or if you simply do not care).
Digression, Part II:
The best digression in the movie is (and I’ll be surprised if you don’t agree with me) is the one they open the movie with – where Mr. Pink talks about his philosophy with tipping. Right off the bat, Mr. Pink is set up to be the “funny guy” of the movie. His name being “Mr. Pink”, in itself, is a set up for a joke (and which they do use for a comedic scene later on in the movie). But the tipping thing – when Mr. Pink lays out his arguments on why he doesn’t tip, you have to admit he makes some pretty good and even valid points, even if you disagree with him. And Steve Buscemi delivers and embodies Mr. Pink so, so naturally; his perfect delivery turned something that could have possibly been offensive into something that was funny and relatable for everyone watching. I guarantee everyone agreed with his a little, even if they thought he was being ridiculous.
Steve Buscemi as Mr. Pink
Who did it?:
Was it obvious for you who did it? I was interested in the beginning, and I kept tabs throughout to see if my predictions were right. Did it matter? No, not really – or at least the mystery portion wasn’t what kept me interested in the movie. At first I wanted to know who it was that did it (and it became more and more obvious as the movie went on), but soon, I just found myself being more interested in the characters themselves. I really wanted to get to know them; in the end, we never got to see the backstories of some characters – but that’s okay too, because that wasn’t what they were there for. Reservoir Dogs is a movie that you can watch solely because of interesting characters – no one had to be dying for it to be interesting.
Stare down between Mr. White and Mr. Pink
TLDR; and ratings section:
Recommended for: People looking for thoughtful humour, people looking for a movie with interesting characters and funny conversations
Not recommended for: People who can’t handle any gore or violence, people wanting a movie with more diversity
Visuals: 7/10 – Although this movie doesn’t do much that is interesting in terms of camera work, the way the movie is edited and cut to go from flash back to the present time, etc, keeps the visuals of the movie interesting.
Sound: 7.5-8/10 – I like the way music was used in this movie to give more character to both the people who inhabit this movie and to the setting. It really paints a picture of what these criminals may have been listening to at a time like this, and it makes these characters almost approachable – which is an odd thing to think to about.
Overall enjoyment: 7.5/10 – Reservoir Dogs may not be the most exciting movie with the camera or with effects, but that doesn’t keep it from being intriguing. You’re guaranteed to find characters and lines in the movie that will really stick with you. If you’re a fan of Tarantino movies, you’ll really notice how the styles of his later movies reflect the style of this movie.
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