The Hateful Eight

The hateful eight from Quentin Tarantino has the signature elements of the director for sure, but the amount of freshness was an issue. It has ample violence, long and interesting dialogues delivered by fabulous actors and of course QT’s usual way of building the tension by giving us a detailed background story of each person. But unlike the other movies of the director there isn’t much to take back, but you will definitely enjoy the film.

The story happens after the Civil War and a bounty hunter John Ruth is taking a lady named Daisy Domergue to Red Rock. The plot of the film is focused on whom all Mr. Ruth had to meet in this journey which was delayed because of a blizzard. The characters and their background with mysterious agendas is what this bloodshed thriller from Tarantino depicting.

Bounty hunters, group of men, the tension, the brutality etc. are there for sure. The way Tarantino writes those long conversations which usually end up in a plot twisting scenario, the style with which he blows the skull of the characters he create and the madness in violence were also there to attract the fans of his signature style narrative. What the movie lacks is that freshness of plot. There is an assembled feel to the premise and unlike his other creations; The Hateful Eight is a bit tedious.

Samuel L Jackson once again did a decent job as Major Warren. QT offered him a more composed character. Kurt Russell is pretty rough as John Ruth. The actors who really surprised me were Jennifer Jason Leigh and Walton Goggins. While Leigh was too good as the minimally verbal expressive bounty, Goggins managed to make an impression as the vivacious Sheriff. Tim Roth, Channing Tatum and Michel Madsen also did their respective roles neatly.

Beginning from the credits typography, Tarantino narrates the movie in that typical style of his. As I mentioned, the narrative speed is pretty slow and the characters are derived from the director’s other films. The movie still succeeds in creating intrigue in that second half and with that last half an hour which has the typical blood soaked atmosphere and decisive conversations the movie becomes much engaging. Perspectives of racism also became part of the screenplay. Shot in the 70mm Panavision lenses without digital intermediates, the visuals were nice and the effects were good. Indian censors have muted and chopped a lot in bits. Background score was also pretty engaging.

On the whole, The Hateful Eight doesn’t really qualify in to that epic stature we all would expect the movie to become. It is a movie that has taken a lot from Tarantino’s own films to create an interesting movie with highs and lows.