The Hateful Eight Movie Review

Released: January 8th 2016 (UK)

Length: 167 Minutes

Certificate: 18

Director: Quentin Tarantino 

Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russel, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Walton Goggins, Demian Bichir, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Bruce Dern, James Parks, and Channing Tatum

Quentin Tarantino’s eighth film is an engrossing flick filled with mystery and an ever rising tension made more palpable by the enclosed environment the characters find themselves stuck in.

The Hateful Eight takes place in the frozen wilderness near Wyoming where bounty hunter Major Marquis Warren (Samuel L. Jackson) hitches a ride with the wary John Ruth (Kurt Russel) who is transporting a most valuable prisoner (Played by Jennifer Jason Leigh). After stumbling across another stranger in need named Chris (Walton Goggins) who is apparently the new sheriff of Ruth’s destination, the three soon arrive at an out-of-the-way lodge and are introduced to five other faces. Finding themselves snowed in for at least a day or two, these eight unsavoury characters all dislike each other in some way or another and at first they try to keep their distances; but as the hours roll on, the Wild West’s version of Cluedo ensues. Suspicion and apprehension runs rampant with new twists and revelations coming and going at a brisk pace. This is what makes the film so engaging and you’ll be keeping an eye on all the characters wondering what their next move will be. By making use of a non-linear and chapter driven narrative to tell its story, the way past and present are placed encourages the audience to even grow more intrigued; the burning question is, what if anything, happened at this lodge before Warren, Ruth and Chris arrived? The Hateful Eight posts this question to us and always keeps us absorbed as a result.

With a premise that lives and dies based on characterisation, The Hateful Eight carries on the director’s tradition of characters with magnetic personalities. The ensemble cast in a western film is nothing new; in fact, the idea of a group of individuals who find they crossing paths is very much in the vein of spaghetti westerns such as The Magnificent Seven and The Wild Bunch. Like previous classics of the genre, each one of them is very memorable; Warren is the de-facto leader, Ruth’s no-nonsense attitude isn’t going to put up with anyone’s rubbish and Chris is awkwardly humorous. The other characters are also a real treat to watch; there’s a suave hangman, a bitter veteran and a quiet rogue who tends to keep to himself. Having all these characters play off one another leads to some great humour and more cracking dialogue that the director always works into his films. There is but one weak link in the cast; Channing Tatum’s character reminded me quite a bit of Chrisoph Waltz in Spectre in that his character doesn’t live up to the way the film builds things up. Once again, we have another character that is simply too basic and ho-hum; not really taking advantage of the actor’s untapped potential. All the other characters have so much depth and variation to them that Tatum ends up sticking out.

The aesthetical style in The Hateful Eight is very reminiscent of films from the seventies from its opening titles to the chapter based presentation. It’s a niche that Tarantino previously filled with Grindhouse double feature Planet Terror and Deathproof and it really works to set the film apart. The soundtrack is just as good as any of the director’s films with legendary composer Ennio Morricone once again returning to write some tracks which brilliantly compliment the film’s more deliberate pacing. In terms of bloodshed, The Hateful Eight could be the most graphic Quentin has ever made; it holds nothing back, heightening the impact of the action once it finally heats up. The one area which didn’t work too well for me was the slow motion; in Django Unchained it raised the tension of the action scenes, but here it felt really jarring and unneeded considering how it is used with such irregular abandon. Despite this misplaced technique, the camerawork still makes the most of the film’s environment, with some plot components wisely left off screen to build the suspense further. Despite having less direct action than Tarantino’s other flicks, Hateful Eight still has its fair share of visual flair, something which isn’t usually present in a typical “Who-done-it?” storyline.

The Hateful Eight is ultimately a very successful outing with just a few stumbles, a film which sets itself apart from Tarantino’s previous western while keeping the patented style that we’ve all come to recognise from the director on top form.

Rating: 4/5 Stars