Say what you will about Tarantino's work, each of his films certainly has it's own unique flare. But with the Hateful Eight, for the first time Tarantino feels like he's repeating himself. It almost feels like Reservoir Dogs remade in the same period and cinematic universe as Django Unchained - with a hint of John Carpenter's The Thing mixed in for good measure. The film isn't bad, it just feels all too familiar. Which is even more disappointing after Tarantino's proclamation that he only plans on directing 10 feature films, to have his eighth feel like such a throwaway. We get a cast mostly composed of actors Tarantino's already worked with and a script that doesn't really have any forward progress until about an hour in. The film is an absolute slog, with not enough of a payoff to make up for the slow exposition. The claustrophobic atmosphere of being trapped in a cabin during a miserable blizzard with post civil war members of the confederacy and union makes for an interesting setting but nothing much happens.
Even the characters themselves, which is usually Tarantino's strong point, feel dull in comparison to Quentin's previous work. The actors do a decent enough job with what they're given but ultimately, this feels more like an R-rated murder mystery party than a feature film. And it all unfolds so unbelievably slowly. The overused slow motion, inexplicable narration over explaining the fairly basic plot, the fake Abraham Lincoln letter that is read in full TWICE...there's just no reason this should be Tarantino's longest film. By the time all the pieces start to fall into place, none of it really seems to carry the weight Tarantino intends it to. We knew somebody was going to come for Daisy Domergue eventually so when you finally find out who's in cahoots after two hours of build up, you don't really care.
There are some great performances here though, especially from Jennifer Jason Leigh as Daisy. She plays the role incredibly well and leads an ensemble of characters you can't really decide whether to root for or against. Kurt Russell is also great in his role as the Hangman but in the film's only real surprise - he's one of the first to be killed off. Which is a damn shame because he's easily the most charismatic actor of the bunch. Walton Goggins and Samuel L. Jackson are fine, no doubt, but they're not really doing anything we haven't seen them do before. Same goes for Madsen and Roth, who feel incredibly underdeveloped.
And while this review will likely end up being 90% complaints, I can't say that Hateful Eight is a terrible film by any means. Along with it's incredible cast, it's also the first Tarantino film to use one composer for its music throughout the entire film and the resulting score is utterly fantastic. Ennio Morricone condemned Tarantino for using previously recorded bits of his music in his earlier films but their collaboration here not only lead to Morricone's first, albeit long overdue, Oscar win but it's also one of the most vibrant and exciting pieces of the entire movie. It fills in the lulls and builds anticipation to make the stakes seem so much higher than they actually are. Add in the few musical cues lifted straight from The Thing when things start to look their bleakest and you have one hell of a soundtrack, even without any signature QT throwback pop tunes.
And the racial tension simmering on the tip of everyone's tongues seems somewhat prophetic for a film that was released in 2015, but other than blind allegiances, there isn't a whole lot of substance in that debate either. It definitely foreshadows the fractured political landscape we're currently navigating but none of Tarantino's characters really offer any insight. They're all equally hateable. The film was initially intended to be a follow up to Django Unchained, titled Django in White Hell but Tarantino rewrote the story without Django because he felt Django's disposition didn't match that of the rest of the characters in the cabin. But as a result there's no one left to root for. They're all too deranged to really care what happens to them which neuters a lot of the tension.
But again, I didn't hate the movie. It was fairly entertaining and the performances of Jennifer Jason Leigh, Kurt Russell and Walton Goggins make for an interesting group to spend a snowy day locked inside with. But that's only when you're locked inside with no other options. In the stacked lineup of Tarantino films to revisit, this one definitely sits near the bottom. And I did finally check out the Extended Cut on Netflix hoping for some kind of redemption but nope, there's still nothing that can save this film with an extended run time when that's one of it's biggest issues already. Not a terrible film but definitely Tarantino's most disappointing.
