Tarantino Live: Force Fox Five and the Tyranny of Evil Men Review

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Reviewer - Russell

*Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in return for an honest review

The biggest temptation for anyone lucky enough to review ‘Tarantino Live- Force Fox Five and The Tyranny of Evil Men’, is to clumsily borrow iconic quotes from QT’s finest movies.

So I approach this review on full alert to NOT slip in the occasional

“Oh, I’m sorry did I break your concentration?” or “That’s a pretty flipping* good milkshake, I don’t know if it’s worth five dollars, but it’s pretty flipping* good”.

This is a full-blown celebration of Tarantino films and the amazing use of music in those movies. A great idea for a live show.

Some might say it's a deserving tribute to the T-Man’s own greatness. And whether you’re a fan of Tarantino or not, there’s no denying the impact he’s had on cinema in the last thirty-odd years.

It’s a mash-up, an interloping, edges blurred, all-rules-out-the-window, no-holds-barred, sing-along-with-Tarantino celebration.

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You get iconic scenes from Pulp Fiction blended with Django Unchained and Jackie Brown, Reservoir Dogs and Inglorious Basterds.

It shouldn't really make any sense, but it does because the music and the thirty-odd songs drive the whole narrative along.

Ideal for a hen party, a big Friday night out, get dressed up, get on up, and get down dance extravaganza.

The stars of the show here are the performers and the musicians.

All the songs are perfectly recreated, with the sound and the style of the original recordings. This is no X-Factor-style karaoke night.

This is the real deal, with star performers taking themselves to the limit of their talents. There are way too many perfect moments to select any individual highs, but it's impossible to not mention the spellbinding Karen Mav, Cleo Caetano, James Byous, and Samuel Nicholas. “Like the unfortunate Marvin in the back of Jules’ Chevvy…you’ll be blown away…Oops”.

You don't need extensive knowledge of QT’s back catalogue to understand what’s going on, but it will help if you've seen the films.

Also, if you are planning a visit, before you go, listen to the original versions of ‘Across 110th Street’, ‘Didn’t I blow your mind this time’ and ‘California dreamin’. They are all recreated here with tears-running-down-your-cheeks, heart-stopping beauty. They’re perfection. I say God damn. God damn…Oops.

The song choices have always been an integral part of any of his movies.

And I’m guessing the young teenage Quentin made some pretty mean mix-tapes back in the day, for any potential girlfriends.

I like to picture a geeky, dorky Quentin, as a nervous teenager, bursting with energy and hormones, a thousand words a minute, saliva flying everywhere, handing a ‘Stuck In The Middle With You’ and ‘Papa Was A Rolling Stone’ combo to his blonde haired, braces adorned prom-dates.

It’s almost as joyous as watching the two-hour-plus show.

The only disappointment for me is the second half has some poor song choices which makes the show drag a little.

And be warned, there are some racial slurs lifted directly from the context of the films, which feel a little bit uncomfortable on a warm night in Hammersmith.

“Hammersmith, what?”

“Say ‘what’ again. Say ‘what’ again, I dare you, I double dare you motherflipper, say what Hammersmith, one more Goddamn time!”

The Tuesday night show I attended, never actually exploded into the interactive, joyous, dancing in the aisles extravaganza that you would expect on a weekend. But it’s still, a brilliantly conceived and performed night out.

All in all, it really is a five-star show for its genre.

And if possible, five stars plus for the performers and five stars plus for the musicians.

“The path of the righteous reviewer is beset on all sides by the inequities of the editor-in-chief and the tyranny of the plethora of evil media outlets”.

Go see.

Go sing.

Go smile.