Not content with breathing new life into the Western genre with Django Unchained (we remember, the D is silent) Quentin Tarantino returns to the genre once more with The Hateful Eight.
Shot in 70mm (available in a few selected cinemas around the world) The Hateful Eight fills every single frame with beautiful scene after beautiful scene. Even when the blood rolls, it still looks stunning. To date, this is easily one of the finest looking Tarantino movies ever and an incredibly authentic looking cast round things off.
The movie itself revolves around a bounty hunter and his bounty ending up in a cabin which already has a few guests sheltering from the oncoming monster blizzard outside. All isn’t what it seems however and the movie twists and turns in what turns out to almost be a classic whodunnit.
The cast are as large as the stunning snow capped vistas, with Samuel L Jackson, Kurt Russell and Jennifer Jason Leigh being front and center for much of the movie. Russell is in his element here, complete with giant walrus mustache, he genuinely is a joy to watch and is entirely consumed by his character, John Ruth. Jackson, while looking slightly out of place for the time period, as a serious bad ass is equally wonderful. Both characters share some fantastic one liners and humour, dark as it may be, is rife throughout.
The rest of the cast, again, are another delight. Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Demián Bichir, Bruce Dern and in particular Walter Goggins are just spectacular. The whole cast are incredibly organic and bounce off each other with ease, making The Hateful Eight a delicious feast for the eyes in more ways than one.
As good as the cast are however, on a rare occasion, the dialogue is incredibly wooden and some scenes play out like a high school play as opposed to an accomplished movie, especially around the middle. But it’s a small gripe and the movie soon dusts itself down and trundles along to an absolutely fantastic finale. However, said fantastic finale is only let down by going a bit overboard. There were a number of endpoints, but Tarantino kept ramping things up and up and up. Again it’s minor niggle, in a finale that is gripping and completely fucked up.
Tarantino says he only has a few movies left in him and it’s quite apparent that he’s trying a few new things here, and for the best part they work and work well. But, as beautiful as the movie is, there is only so many long, lingering shots of horses pulling a coach through the snow that one can stomach. These dragged out, albeit well shot scenes, are more like a fucking Christmas Budweiser ad than a movie. Again, another small gripe. And it’s only the small things that restrain The Hateful Eight from being a classic.
It’s certainly one of Tarantino’s better movies, granted it’s a bit too long. A few less 70mm horse and snow scenes and some dialogue shaving would have made this perfect. Either way, it’s gripping stuff and does an incredible job of pulling an audience into a snowy Wyoming and in particular a stunning and authentic looking cabin. Definitely worth a watch! The Hateful Great!
