By John Mossey | Editor-in-Chief
I’m going to start this review off by saying that The Hateful Eight is one of the best movies I had the pleasure of seeing in 2015. Quentin Tarantino, the mastermind behind this film, is one of Hollywood’s underdog directors that deserves more credit than is given to him, and his eighth film, The Hateful Eight, is no exception compared to his earlier masterpieces, which include Inglorious Bastards, Django Unchained, and Pulp Fiction to name a few.
Starring an superior cast from the likes of Samuel L. Jackson (Star Wars Episodes 1-3, The Avengers), Kurt Russell (Poseidon, Furious 7), Jennifer Jason Leigh (Weeds, Revenge), and Channing Tatum (Dear John, 21 Jump Street, Magic Mike), The Hateful Eight just glimmers from the performance of the actors and actresses in the film. Dialogue between characters is rich and enticing; unpredictable and alive. These characters seem like real people living back during the post-Civil War era, where the story takes place.
In the snowy hills of Wyoming, bounty hunters cross paths and find themselves in a strange predicament: a blizzard is coming quickly and the only shelter they can hole up in is an inn for travelers, merchants and the like. The inn is already occupied however, and now the bounty hunter John Ruth (Kurt Russell) must hold onto his $10,000 bounty, Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh) for the next two days while in the company of another bounty hunter, a sheriff, a hangman, a confederate general, a cattle-herder, and a lone Mexican.
What I enjoyed most about this movie is how little action there was. This is a movie about characters and the power of dialogue. Throughout the movie, there are multiple instances where words deliver more power than any gun could. Don’t get me wrong, there is action and classic Tarantino brutality that is all too familiar, but not as much as you would find in Kill Bill or Django Unchained. Also worth mentioning is that the film was shot in a classic format using 70 mm cameras instead of the new digital format, now a standard for Hollywood. The movie looks easily as good as any digital movie (for instance, Star Wars or The Hobbit Trilogy) and personally, I hope more movies follow this classic format in the future (I’m not getting my hopes up, though).
Quentin Tarantino considers this film a snow-western. Now, as someone who does not particularly enjoy western movies at all, I have to confess that this movie really brought the genre back to the light. To be honest however, I’m not sure if I would classify this film as a western at all. Of course it is a western, but it feels like so much more. There is such depth to the characters and the world they live in, especially in post-Civil War era. Dialogue carries weight, the small and insignificant actions that characters perform while talking to one another makes them feel real and alive. This movie is a western and so be it, but it’s the best damn western I’ve ever seen.
The Hateful Eight gets an easy 4.5 out of 5. Do yourselves a great pleasure and watch this movie. That is all that needs to be said. Watch this movie.
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