The Hateful Eight
Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Walton Goggins
Written & Directed By: Quentin Tarantino
Reviewed by Brendan Dousi
[rating: 4/5]

Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight is most definitely a Tarantino movie. This isn’t very surprising, I know, but I actually think that this is the most Tarantino-y Tarantino movie to have ever Tarantino’d. It has a grand overture, chapter titles, his signature dialogue, an abundance of self-indulgence, extreme levels of cartoonish-yet-realistic violence, exuberant use of the ‘N’ word, a large cast of horrible, horrible people and this time he decided to shoot it on 70mm film and add an intermission. Yep, that’s about as Tarantino as you can get. And you know what? It’s great. That is, of course, if you are a fan of Tarantino. If not, then you may as well pack up your things and go home.

As great as Tarantino can be, he can be a very acquired taste and The Hateful Eight might prove to be one of his most alienating films for anyone who isn’t a fan. There’s not a lot of variance in this film, it doesn’t even have your usual amount of twists and turns and about 95% of the film takes place in the one location, a cabin in a blizzard. What we do see outside of the cabin is, give or take a few beautiful mountains, a stark white emptiness. This film, and everyone in it, is completely isolated from outside influence and plays out more like a stage-production than any of Tarantino’s previous, usually heavy-plotted, films. It is a testament to him as both a writer and a director that he can take such a simple concept and location and turn it into something thrilling, engaging and goddamned fun for most of its three-hour-long runtime. It is a little bloated, of course, but as I said earlier, it really wouldn’t be Tarantino without the self-indulgence.

One thing that never ceases to impress me with Tarantino’s writing is his ability to write compelling, exuberant and entertaining characters and dialogue. Even if a character is mostly a pile of clichés or an overused archetype, he will find a way to make them live and breathe on the screen. Every single person in this film, even one-off side characters, felt like they had a history, a proper place in the narrative, and I yearned to know more about them. In fact, a good amount of this movie is just these interesting characters standing around and slowly revealing more information about themselves. This could get tedious in the hands of a lesser filmmaker, but everything here is handled perfectly from the hilarious, extended monologues to the bloody, gut-spilling showdowns.

Apart from his obvious skills as a writer, Tarantino has always had an amazing knack for picking an amazing cast and getting absolutely pitch-perfect performances out of them. Alumni like Kurt Russell, Samuel L. Jackson, Tim Roth and Michael Madsen return to the fold to give their absolute best, bouncing off of each other like they are having the time of their lives. Hell, even Tarantino favourite Zoë Bell pops her head in for a bit. Samuel L. Jackson as Major Marquis Warren, the Civil War veteran from the north who absolutely loves killing white folks, is in particularly good form here, which isn’t too hard considering the character is basically Samuel L. Jackson himself in a Civil War-era uniform with slightly more murderous tendencies. The real standouts here, however, are Tarantino newcomers Jennifer Jason Leigh as the despicable (and detained) Daisy Domergue, and Walton Goggins as an ex-confederate soldier turned (potentially) Sheriff, Chris Mannix. These two both add a wonderful comedic energy to the room that only stands to elevate this into an even more spectacularly enjoyable experience. In particular, Mannix and Marquis Warren’s tumultuous relationship is fantastic to see unfold and even has the bonus of some underhanded commentary on race. The whole film has quite a bit to say on racial relations and this may perhaps be the closest Tarantino will ever get to overt social commentary.

It definitely isn’t on the level of Inglourious Basterds or Pulp Fiction and for most people may sit on the mid-to-lower tier of Tarantino films, but The Hateful Eight brings enough cracking banter, tangible characterisation and head-exploding violence to keep the majority of cinema-goers engrossed, or at the very least entertained. See it in 70mm if you can (this may be impossible in Australia), but even on plain, old peasant screens The Hateful Eight is well worth a watch.