Another piece of Tarantino genius

Rating: 8/10 (1 January 2016)

One of the greatest directors of our era, Quentin Tarantino, returned with an almost 3-hour film, without any big stars (but with many of his regulars) and much trouble during production. But he made it again.
The Hateful Eight is perhaps the Tarantino film with the more mystery in it; for long enough during the film you don't know who is who and who does what, and there's even a scene when the great Samuel Jackson produces a Poirot-style speech trying to solve one of the plot's mysteries.
As in every film Quentin made, the greatest part is the screenplay. Quick and witty dialogue, especially by Jackson and Kurt Russell, colorful, ambiguous characters, black humor, great use of actual events (this time, the American Civil War) and of course, suspense, mystery and masterful plot twists. Chronological order is not observed, typically for Tarantino, but this time it's necessary in order to deceit the viewer, as he aims to.
The cast acts fine, with Jackson, Russell and Leigh performing at their best. Because of its similar scenery (19th century United States, with race relations an important factor), you can't help but compare the movie with Tarantino's latest Django Unchained (2012). The latter film had stars like Waltz and Di Caprio and much more action than this, but The Hateful Eight almost equals it with its mysterious plot and brilliantly claustrophobic directing by Tarantino, plus the wonderful score written by the great Ennio Morricone. I think Django was slightly better, but this one had significantly less potential to exploit.
In conclusion, the film proves for one more time that this guy is a master behind the camera, and provides 165 minutes of suspense, intrigue and fun. It's a great movie to watch, not a masterpiece, but another piece of Tarantino genius. And for the die-hard Tarantino fans, they may observe that the style resembles the earliest films he made, such as Reservoir Dogs, with slapstick violence and no sympathetic characters. Not his best, but a true Tarantino movie.