Hat trick

Rating: 7/10 (22 January 2016)

When we first see Christoph Waltz in Inglorious Basterds, the lengthy Alpine scene is a joy - but also reminds you how little real adult cinema there is. And without Tarantino, the Disneyfication of mainstream film would not stop.
This time, he takes his usual patience to build up the Western but it is immediately apparent that film is also puzzle, maybe whodunnit. So from the outset we are expecting the plot to resolve surprisingly, and it does.
If you are familiar with Tarantino, then this film delivers in spades, but it has surprisingly even less concessions to a modern cinema audience than his previous two films.
The film is both slow and yet Beat Takeshi like in its outbursts of violence. The film is long, and does not truly kick in for an hour. The use of the N-word is excessive and purely for texture which is what gets Tarantino into so much hot water.
But Tarantino has a discipline that keeps the film incredibly tight, which keeps you fully emerged in his world, reminding you that good filmmakers use the time they have effectively.