At long last — since Quentin Tarantino fans have been dying for a glimpse since the first peek at that hand-scrawled script suggested that yes, this was really happening — comes the first trailer for Django Unchained, Tarantino's December 2012 spaghetti western about a freed slave (Jamie Foxx) shooting his way across the South. Because nothing says Christmas like slavery and vengeance!
UPDATE: Fandango has the trailer debut here.
Foxx plays Django, a slave taken under the wing of a German bounty hunter (Christoph Waltz, looking delightful). Together they journey from plantation to plantation shooting bad guys on their way to rescuing Django's wife (Kerry Washington) from the evil, oily Leonardo DiCaprio.
Between the contained ferocity in Foxx's eyes, the character actors that line the cast, Tarantino's use of classic genre zooms and camera moves, that swaggering sense of humor, and the promise of seeing Django get the ultimate historical-revisionist retribution in his quest for "life, love, and the pursuit of vengeance," the trailer packs quite a punch. And that's even before Foxx's Django sidles up to the OG Django, Franco Nero, and explains to him how his name is pronounced. Oh, references!
Verdict: Might be a bit too genre for mainstream audiences, but my inner exploitation nerd can't wait.
Django Unchained hits theaters December 25.