Movie Review - The Hateful Eight

I like Quentin Tarantino's films. I don't love them to death, but there is something in his movies that keep me glued to the screen. That does not mean that his movies are for everyone. He has carved a certain niche of fans/viewers for his films. Some absolutely love his films, while some despise them. I am somewhere between the two. The Hateful Eight is one of the reasons why I am still in the middle. For every good movie, QT brings out one average one. This film, though not abysmal, is still not as good. Why, you ask? Read on...

The movie is a by-the-books "whodunnit" story, much in the vein of 'Murder by death'. It's like Reservoir Dogs meets Django Unchained. I am fine with that. A mystery is a cup of tea that I would enjoy anytime, but not without sugar, if you get my meaning. Kurt Russel plays a bounty hunter who captures a criminal and is on his way to get his reward. Along the way he meets another bounty hunter, played by the always entertaining Samuel L. Jackson and a soon-to-be Sheriff who tags along with him. The four along with the cabbie take refugee at an inn since a storm is on its way. Once there, Kurt suspects that there is somebody amongst them who is trying to free the criminal (as to how he suspects that is beyond me) and he will try his best to prevent it in order to get his reward. And wouldn't you know it, people start dying left and right and it is upto the survivors to find out whodunnit, or rather whodoinit. Now, the movie starts very slow, atypical of QTs movies; only this time it is not as interesting. The first 45-50 minutes could have been cut out and it wouldn't have affected the story. There is too much dialogue that is far from interesting. In fact, the movie is 2hours45 and I feel I would have been interested if it was compressed to 2 hours or even less. The first-third is boring expostion, the second-third is the setup, and the final third is the flashback sequence/epilogue. Also, the whole film felt like a stage play with sometimes a narration in the background that actually cheat-cheats a bit by REVEALING SOMETHING through the middle of the movie which is weird. Not that it gives you a clue as to who the culprit is since the ending is only "meh".

The performances are spot on which is not surprising given the cast - Kurt Russell, Sam L. Jackson (with a lot less "mudhaf**as" this time around), Tim Roth, Michael Madsen and so on. The woman who plays the criminal is also very good. You hate the character so much and that is a compliment to her performance. My only complaint is that Tim Roth's character felt a bit similar to Christoph Waltzs' 'Dr. King Schultz' from Django Unchained.

                                   

The movie starts to speed up during the last 1 hour or so until the end. The end, like I said, is just satisfactory in a morbid, violent, Tarantino way but it is nothing out-of-the-box. No surprises. No shocking twists. In conclusion, I think I am getting tired of the old-school setting that QT is going for these days. I want to see him return back to the contemporary setting that I feel he is very good at. If you are a QT fan, I'd say give this one a try. Or else, skip it or watch it when they telecast it on TV.

                                                                      Score - 6/10