Check out The Hateful Eight review that finds Quentin Tarantino stepping back into the Old West for a classic gunslinger story that unfolds into a mesmerizing mystery…
By Damon Martin — Editor/Lead Writer
It’s clear from Quentin Tarantino’s last two films that he’s fallen in love with the Western genre and if Django Unchained was his fast start out of the gate, The Hateful Eight is his record time around the track.
The film that started out as a leaked script that infuriated Tarantino so much that he nearly scrapped the entire project entirely has now turned out to be another bloody classic from the man who paints in dialogue and violence in the way Van Gogh used oils.
Tarantino used a lot of his favorite people to make the movie and that should be a welcome sight for any fan of his films because the actors who work with him most frequently seem to deliver the most in those movies. He also took the extra step to shoot The Hateful Eight on 65mm film with the movie debuting on 70mm screens, which is just another way Tarantino takes extra care to put his finishing touches on all of his films.
Now if you go to see The Hateful Eight expecting a non-stop thrill ride or a gun fight around every corner, you’ll be disappointed but if you want to witness a story that unfolds in chapter after chapter like layers being pealed back all while taking place with a cold, wintry backdrop that will have you grabbing for a hot drink and a warm blanket, then this is the movie for you.
Plot
John Ruth aka The Hangman (Kurt Russell) is a bounty hunter who has rented a stage coach to transport him across Wyoming where he’s going to turn in a dangerous fugitive named Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason-Leigh) and then collect on a rather handsome reward for her capture. Along the way on a snowy trail that’s about to get dumped on by a blizzard, Ruth runs into a couple more stranded travelers — one of which is Major Marquis Warren — a Civil War hero turned bounty hunter, who is also looking to cash in on some criminals except unlike ‘The Hangman’ he prefers dead much more than alive.
Ruth, Domergue and the rest of the passengers arrive at an inn called Minnie’s Haberdashery, where they meet another group of people who are already there trying to ride out the blizzard before finishing a trip to Red Rock, which is the town still too many miles away to make it in a blinding snowstorm.
Once everybody is under one roof it’s clear to Ruth that somebody in that mess of humanity is teamed up with Daisy Domergue and means to set her free. That doesn’t sit well with the bounty hunter who caught her or the reward he’s about to receive for turning her in. The next two-plus hours unravel in a mystery as these unsuspecting strangers get to know each other better while all of them believe the other might just be the person in cahoots with the criminal.
Acting
Like all of Tarantino’s movies, he casts the films with a ton of names and faces that you’ll recognize if you’ve seen even a handful of his past projects.
Samuel L. Jackson takes the lead in the movie and really shines in one of his best performances in recent memory. He’s got all the swagger that a typical Sam Jackson character would have, but he’s a bit more subdued this time around. Jackson also has a soliloquy that he unveils at one point in the movie and it’s equal parts sinister and hilarious all wrapped up into one spellbinding piece of dialogue.
The other stand out in this film is Walton Goggins, who has become one of Tarantino’s new favorite people to work with in recent years. Goggins has mastered the Southern draw like few others have done in Hollywood history and he is coy and comedic for a large part of this movie while quietly putting together his best work outside of Justified, which was just outstanding for six seasons.
The rest of the cast does just as well — Russell is the powerful alpha male, Bruce Dern is the elder statesmen still living in the past, Michael Madsen is a fuse just waiting to get lit, and Tim Roth is at his sly and slimy best. And of course Jennifer Jason Leigh has no problem going toe-to-toe with all that testosterone and she doesn’t budge an inch along the way.
Directing and Writing
Listen, this is a Quentin Tarantino movie in every way shape and form.
The dialogue is crisp and cutting, unapologetic and unrelenting. If bad words offend you or if racy language makes you uncomfortable, you probably walked into the wrong theater in the first place.
With that said, Tarantino’s script this time around is so dazzling that the two-hour, 47 minute run time really does just fly by. Every conversation is delivered with such flawless execution that you end up hanging on every word and listening to each story like you were planted in that same haberdashery sipping coffee and munching on stew.
Tarantino’s direction is also on point this time around, especially with the beautiful landscape shots that are mostly seen in the first half-hour of the movie. The blustery skyline cascading with white eventually dissolves into a dark, eerie black that decorates the screen with the flickering images of horses and saddles that eventually leads inside the old timey haberdashery that serves as Reservoir Dogs’ style diner where The Hateful Eight learn who to trust, who not to trust and which of them are going to leave here alive.
One more side note — it must be mentioned that legendary composer Ennio Morricone was in charge of the score for The Hateful Eight and it’s every bit as cutting and crucial to this movie as the acting, directing and dialogue.
What’s Wrong with the Movie?
There’s not much to complain about with The Hateful Eight unless you are just opposed to Westerns, which isn’t a genre that everybody enjoys. For a big part of my life growing up, my father loved old John Wayne and Clint Eastwood films and I despised being forced to sit and watch those movie as a kid. Only later in life with a different movie going palette did I really started to appreciate the Western. So if a setting in Wyoming sometime around 1875 with cowboy hats and six-shooters doesn’t sound like your idea of heaven, then maybe The Hateful Eight won’t appeal to you.
And of course the biggest warning here — like all of Tarantino’s work — is things get bloody and violent and deadly. It’s no picnic watching a person get shot close range with brains and blood flying like a Peep exploding inside a microwave. But if you’ve seen Tarantino’s past work and stomached all of that before, then there’s no reason The Hateful Eight will do anything to churn your stomach.
Final Verdict
The Hateful Eight is a perfect follow up to Django Unchained with mystery serving as the central theme this time around instead of vengeance. Well acted, well directed and dialogue that cuts like a bullet — this is another Tarantino masterpiece worth watching.
The Hateful Eight gets five out of five on the Skolnick Scale
