Movie review: The Hateful Eight

Comedy/Crime/Drama

Rated – R18+

 
Duration –187mins

Release – Jan 2016

 

Director –Quentin Tarantino 

Writer – Quentin Tarantino

Cast –Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Walton Goggins

Mr Knight

I love it when movies come along that I am looking forward to. However, this time Tarantino has let me down. I feel after so much success Tarantino has gone all “Billy Walsh” (an Entourage reference there… look him up) on his fans, and decided “I’ll do what I want and make movies how I want!”

The Hateful Eight, set a short time after the American Civil War, in freezing cold Wyoming, tells the events of two bounty hunters, a new town sheriff, and their coach driver, forced to shack up at Minnie’s Haberdashery to avoid a massive blizzard. As well as these three men, in their company are three dead criminals and one rotten tomato, worth $10,000 dead or alive, Daisy Domergue.

Once inside Minnie’s our troop are forced to avoid the cold in the company of four others. After what seems like hours of dialogue, some of that good old fashioned Django style, Tarantino comic book-like gore ensues.

The movie is filled with quality cast, (most of which you would have seen in other Tarantino flicks) including a man who is just about everything, Samuel L. Jackson as Major Marquis Warren, Kurt Russell who sports a rocking Mo as bounty hunter, “The Hangman”, Walton Goggins, Tim Roth and Michael Madsen to name a few.

The story is interesting enough, and the backgrounds of these very individual characters can keep you engaged, but it felt to me that there is at least one hour out of the three that could have been edited out, to make this one on par with Inglorious Basterds and Django. I felt that Tarantino said to himself “Fuck it. I have final cut and I want to keep every drawn out bit of this film.”

The Hateful Eight is still fun. The shooting scenes are just as over the top as expected. The conversations aren’t as intense as Hans Landers brilliant scenes from Inglorious Basterds, but Christoph Waltz set that bar VERY high. All I can recommend with this one, is pack for a long trip, with bulk snacks and fluids and make a pit stop before the movie starts because no doubt a toilet break will drag you out of the cinema half way through.

Mrs Knight

I’m a massive Tarantino fan. Kill Bill, Inglorious Basterds and Django Unchained are among some of my favourite movies. They’re gritty, shocking, violent and clever with engaging storylines and characters. The Hateful Eight was gritty and violent, but didn’t have the same engaging storyline or characters.

The story kicks off sometime after the Civil War, we’re introduced to Bounty Hunter John Ruth (Kurt Russell) and his fugitive captive Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Laigh). The two are in a coach at the beginning of a blizzard on their way to Red Rock, where Daisy will be hung for her crimes. Along their journey they encounter Major Marquis Warren (Samuel L. Jackson), an infamous bounty hunter. At the time I didn’t mind this interaction, it was good character building but in hind sight I realise it was far longer than necessary. Further down the track they come across Chris Mannix, (Walton Goggins) who claims to be Red Rocks new Sheriff. The film has about 5 chapters from memory, but for me it was split into 3 sections. The above is section number one.

The next section shows them seeking shelter and warmth from the blizzard outside at Minnie’s Haberdashery. Here they are greeted by Bob, who is taking care of the place while Minnie is gone, Oswaldo Mobray, the hangman of Red Rock, Joe Gage a cow puncher and confederate general Sanford Smithers. This section is full of more long pauses and speeches getting to know everyone.  There were gripping moments, but it mostly fell short and I was waiting for something big to happen.

The third section is by far the best as it’s full of action. I will leave it at that so I don’t spoil anything. Overall I feel all the right elements were there it was just far too long and much of the dialogue wasn’t very engaging. It was almost like a “director’s cut” of a film and should have been edited before the theatrical release.

The villains in Tarantino’s other films are usually the highlight e.g. Christoph Waltz in Inglorious Basterds, Leonardo DiCaprio in Django Unchained and Lucy Liu in Kill Bill. However, no one in this film was very likeable, not even in a badass villain kind of way.

The gory elements were entertaining, if you’re a sicko like me. But I felt some of the crude comments didn’t contribute to the film and felt a little forced, like it was trying to be shocking. In saying that, I do enjoy Tarantino’s style of film. As mentioned, there were some intense parts, the last hour in particular, but it mostly fell short and I was disappointed overall.