The Hateful Eight: Tarantino is back

Rating: 8/10 (15 January 2016)

First of all, let me say this: Quentin Tarantino is my favorite film director of all time. Yes, even better than Scorsese, Fincher, Spielberg or Kubrick. So, I had pretty high expectations on the Hateful Eight, the new Western by Tarantino. Let me explain you how and why these expectations were met.
All you need to know about the plot of the Hateful Eight has been said in the trailers. Eight strangers are stuck in a lonely cottage, due to a blizzard. You don't need to know more and you shouldn't know more than that, before watching the film. These strangers are played by Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russel, Bruce Dern, Walton Goggins, Demián Bichir, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen and Jennifer Jason Leigh. Like in Inglourious Basterds and Pulp Fiction the film is divided into chapters. Most of the movie takes place in said cottage. The story overall is very thrilling and unpredictable. While the first half of the movie consist almost entirely out of dialogues, the second half is more typical Tarantino.
The acting in the Hateful Eight is superb. Especially Sam Jackson, Walton Goggins and Jennifer Jason Leigh do their job very well. Like people are expecting, when it comes to Sam Jackson, his character is pure badass and Jennifer Jason Leigh even got an Oscar nomination for Best Actress in a supporting role. Tim Roth, Kurt Russell and Bruce Dern also play their parts with excellence. Channing Tatum has as well a small role, which he also plays good (Yes, I know it's Channing Tatum, but Tarantino once even managed to make Til Schweiger play OK, so why not Tatum?). The script is brilliant and very quotable, even for Tarantino standards. Sam Jackson's character also has a few very intelligent and interesting monologues.
One of the most anticipated features of the Hateful Eight was the soundtrack. Tarantino is known for using music, composed by Ennio Morricone, since Kill Bill. However, for the first time, apart from one single song in Django Unchained, Morricone composes new original score for a Tarantino movie. Ennio Morricone is, together with John Williams, my most beloved film composer. The soundtrack overall is excellent and fitting. Although I think Star Wars VII, which has great music too, will win the Oscar for Best Original Score, I hope Morricone gets the honor.
I find the Hateful Eight to be Quentin's fourth best film to date, right after Inglourious Basterds, Django Unchained and Pulp Fiction. Beautiful visual, amazing and unpredictable story, many characters with unique traits, excellent acting and all the things that are typical Tarantino. 10/10