A rare Tarantino misfire

Rating: 5/10 (28 May 2019)

On the surface and premise alone, this film gives the impression of another strong outing from the mind of Quentin Tarantino: a group of nefarious characters take shelter from a Wyoming winter storm together, unaware of one another's intentions. Unfortunately, the end product is anything but enjoyable, a tedious story lumbering between each subplot, split up by occasional shots of gratuitous violence.
The Hateful Eight suffers in part from trying to be "more Tarantino than Tarantino", playing on his movie trademarks to the point of annoying the audience. A prime example is shown in the opening scenes, where a single drawn out shot of the US wilderness is shown for around 5 minutes. Whilst bearable to begin with, these clichés soon drag, and by the end of the considerable run time you'll be looking for the door.
The story lacks any real cohesion as well, opening on the pretence of an intricate backstory-driven tale, but in practice offering little development. Samuel L Jackson (and for the most part, the rest of the cast) give noble performances, but they aren't enough to truly elevate this film. The cinematography is exquisite where given the opportunity to shine, but the limited focus of the film prevents this from really salvaging the story.
Having tried this film several times, on each occasion I was met with the same senses of both creeping boredom and annoyance at the promise not capitalised on. As with actors and directors of Tarantino's calibre, there is a delusion to immediately hail any work as an immediate classic - The Hateful Eight does not deserve to be included in this category.