One of Tarantino's weaker films, but still not bad

Rating: 5/10 (7 April 2016)

A lot of people were excited about Quentin Tarantino's new film The Hateful Eight. There's been a lot of gossip around this film, partly due to the script leaking online. Tarantino was furious and made threats about not making the film at all. Considering his two latest films, Django Unchained and Inglourious Basterds' tendencies to violence and blood, I knew what to expect. With a great star cast with names like, Kurt Russell, Samuel L. Jackson, Tim Roth and Bruce Dern, I expected good acting.
The Hateful Eight is an interesting western with elements of an Agatha Christie crime drama. A lot of different characters together in one small space makes for an exciting ending. I was genuinely interested at first to see how Tarantino would tie it all together. But, something happened about halfway through the film. Tarantino changed tracks and started pulling the film away in different directions. A bad narrative voice, long scenes of the past explaining things we already knew and strange character focus, took up too much space. It feels as if Tarantino has lost what ones made him so great to begin with in films like Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction. The ability to trust his audience and not proclaim us dumb by over clarify things and messages.
The Tarantino I got to know as a young cineaste, made films like Pulp Fiction and completely blew my mind. Where is he now? Ever since the Kill Bill films, it feels like he is more interested in violence, blood and subtle one-liners. Still, the thing that Tarantino really did good in The Hateful Eight is the craft of the film itself. The original music by the legendary Ennio Morricone is brilliant and the incredibly beautiful cinematography, especially the snowy climate at the beginning of the film is breathtaking. Also, the acting didn't disappoint. As a whole The Hateful Eight is an OK film but I can't help feel that it could have been much better if Tarantino just would have trusted us as he ones did.
David Lindahl - www.filmografen.se