Tarantino Continues His Streak

Rating: 9/10 (29 August 2018)

With Tarantino's ninth film, he returns to the Western genre and brings his signature wit, tension, and violence in a film that ranks as one of his best. While it does not have the sympathetic characters that some of his previous films have, it is an undeniably fun film.
Essentially a remake of The Thing, The Hateful Eight takes place during a terrible blizzard where a group of sleazy characters have all been forced to hide out in a small inn. One of the individuals is on the way to be hanged but it quickly becomes apparent that someone is not who they claim to be and the picture turns into a classic mystery.
The first thing that is noticeable about The Hateful Eight is the direction and the atmosphere. It's rare to see a western film in the snow-capped mountains and Hateful Eight uses this to gorgeous effect. The tone of the film is set almost immediately with a beautiful, haunting score by Ennio Morricone over a stark, snowy landscape. The film goes for a tone and it nails it from the first frame all the way to the last.
As is typical with Tarantino films, the acting is perfect across the board. Each actor has been carefully selected for their roles and it shows. Dramatic tension is undercut with comedy at the drop of a hat and it never feels out of place, thanks to the performances. Samuel L. Jackson, as always, is at the top of his game, showing that even after 150 films, he is just as good as the script he has. Walton Goggins proves to be the highlight of the film and our perceptions of him constantly change throughout the film.
Where the film truly shines is the dialogue, characters, and the tension that builds from both. Tarantino proves that age hasn't slowed him down one bit, in fact showing that he has become a master of his craft. In a lot of films, dialogue is meant to get us from one place to other, but in Tarantino's films, the dialogue is the highlight. They develop the characters and give us a plethora of quotable lines. We understand the characters which in turn makes the climax more interesting, because we are invested in what happens.
Hitchcock said that the most exciting part of an action scene is not the gunshot, but what leads up to the gunshot. Hateful Eight is the perfect example of this and is the definition of a slow build. Since this is a Tarantino film, we know that something bad is going happen, we just don't know when, where, or why. As the film progressed, I was on the edge of my seat from one scene to the next.
In rare form for Tarantino, the film has a deep political message that is incredibly topical today. The post-Civil War setting enhances the racial tensions and there is more than one scene addressing race in America that is still relevant today. While it is not a focal point of the film, it adds another layer to a movie that is full of them,
While the length may be an issue for some, I didn't even notice it. I was engaged from beginning to end with The Hateful Eight and the three-hour runtime felt like two.
Hateful Eight is required viewing for fans of the crime and western genre. If you have even a remote interest in Tarantino films, then you've probably already seen Hateful Eight. If not, then take a few hours out of your day to watch a future classic.