Home Uncategories I didn't HATE 'The Hateful Eight', I just didn't LOVE it.

I didn't HATE 'The Hateful Eight', I just didn't LOVE it.

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"No one said this job was supposed to be easy."

I think it is very befitting to start this blog off with a review of Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight, as I am a huge fan of Tarantino's work and have been from a very young age. I grew up watching films like Pulp Fiction and Death Proof. So I have grown accustomed to the typical gore that is usually present in Tarantino's films, however, although this has been a controversial topic for the majority of Tarantino's films; the violence is not an issue I will be addressing due to the fact that I don't believe it to be an issue, I believe it to be a Tarantino trait. And this (unfortunately) is one of the only redeeming qualities The Hateful Eight has. The plot is set not long after the civil war, and a bounty hunter (Kurt Russell) is bringing his captive (Jennifer Jason Leigh) to a town in Wyoming named Red Rock; to have her hanged.  A blizzard is due so they stop at a haberdashery where trouble ensues and consequently, where the rest of the film takes place.

When seeing The Hateful Eight advertised I was needlessly excited; I have been disappointed by so many films in the past year that I had no doubt that a Tarantino film wouldn't do the same. So as I walked out of the screening feeling quite disappointed and questioning everything I was thinking. 
It was most definitely not Tarantino's best, and I believe the only reason why I initially told myself I enjoyed The Hateful Eight was because it was typically Tarantino.

Some of my initial thoughts drew attention to the opening sequence as it was incredibly reminiscent of Django and Inglorious Basterds with establishing shots of snowy mountains and one significantly long shot of the stagecoach travelling in the snow as seen in the figures below. The cinematography was no doubt credible as it was especially visually pleasing, however most of Tarantino's collaborations with Robert Richardson never fail to please in terms of cinematography. Robert Richardson was able to capture so much depth of space within The Hateful Eight, even with such limited settings. Robbie Collins described the cinematography perfectly in his article for the guardian,"When Tarantino announced that he would be shooting his forthcoming western, The Hateful Eight, in Ultra Panavision 70 – an arcane camera process last used in the Fifties and Sixties on horizon-stretching extravaganzas like Ben-Hur and The Fall of the Roman Empire – the last thing anyone imagined was that most of the movie would take place inside a shed." I can only imagine what huge effort it must have been when lighting each scene, due to the wide aspect ratio of the Panavision lenses. When saying this, credit must be given where credit is due, because it was flawless.

(opening shot in The Hateful Eight)
(opening shot of Inglorious Basterds)
I feel like the overall plot, looked better written down than on the screen. The story, for me wasn't translated as well as it should have been compared to some of Tarantino's other work, and I just wasn't fully engaged. The whole first half of the film, meaning right up until the intermission; is completely mundane and to excuse this as expositional, is taking the easy way out.  When writing a script about a room full of paranoid men, one only needs to look at Reservoir Dogs as an example, in order to illustrate how The Hateful Eight should have been. I am not denouncing the fact that the majority of the first half was dialogue based; I am criticizing the fact that the dialogue was boring. And not boring in the mundane, yet enticing anecdotal dialogue that is present in the majority of Tarantino's films, but just plain boring. This disappointed me most, due to the fact that most of the dialogue in Tarantino films are memorable for their banality. In Pulp Fiction, the conversations we see between the characters Vincent and Jules are for lack of a better word, normal. They are everyday topics that one person would have with a friend; most famously represented in the scene where Jules and Vincent are in a car talking about, "Vincent: And you know what they call a... a... a Quarter Pounder with Cheese in Paris? Jules: They don't call it a Quarter Pounder with cheese?
Vincent: No man, they got the metric system. They wouldn't know what the fuck a Quarter Pounder is. Jules: Then what do they call it? Vincent: They call it a Royale with cheese." However after this scene takes place, we are met with the reality of the two character situation, which is they are on their way to kill someone, which contributes to the element of dark humor. Nothing like this was present in The Hateful Eight. Chris Wasser alludes my point exclaiming how, "If there’s a silver lining to the man’s sluggish and unnecessarily puffy screenplay, it’s that he has assembled a masterful ensemble that, for an hour at least, sink their teeth into a horrid game of who can play the nastiest, meanest lodger." The second half of the film is where most, if not all of the action takes place. It is also in this half where Tarantino made his inevitable cameo as an unnecessary narrator. And just because this is where the action takes place, this doesn't deter from the tediousness as most of the action and continuation of the story is all very predictable. Everyone starts shooting at each other, Samuel L. Jackson's character is at the forefront of it all, and you know the rest (lots of unrealistic amounts of blood and guts emanates).

One really petty thing I was disappointed with, was the intermission itself. The fact that there was an intermission, was one of the only things I had heard about The Hateful Eight, when it was being released. So, as a lover of classic cinema, and Tarantino's style; I was expecting some scenic backdrop with 'Intermission' written in Tarantino's recognizable font as seen below. Instead, I was met with a black screen and the cinema's advertisements to consume more overpriced drinks and popcorn. Yes, I know it is petty, but it most definitely did not add to my movie going experience.

(Example of 'Tarantino' Font)
I don't feel the need to draw much attention to the choice of actors Tarantino used for The Hateful Eight, as they are renowned for the previous work they have done with him. Tim Roth's performance was by far the most memorable, as his character development jumps drastically and the very noticeable accent change from a very posh, well spoken British-man to a harsh, cockney geezer; most definitely made me laugh.

In summation, The Hateful Eight wasn't the phenomenal masterpiece I had heard and expected from it. The storytelling didn't capture my interest and I am disappointed. It's only saving grace, was the fact that it was a Tarantino film, and I feel biased in saying that as a fan of his. At best, I would give this 3/5 stars, only because its main saving grace was the fact that it is a Tarantino film. I hear that there is talk of a 'Kill Bill: Vol 3"? Let's hope that my hopes for that will be met.

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