A unique addition to Tarantino's filmography, though not one of his best

Rating: 8/10 (2 January 2016)

"The Hateful Eight" is a great addition to Tarantino's filmography, but not one of his best films. Though it bears similarities to "Django Unchained" in the sense that it is a Western concerned with black history and containing a black lead character, and to "Reservoir Dogs" in terms of its locked-room plot structure, large set of characters questioning each others' motives, and inclusion of Michael Madsen and Tim Roth, "The Hateful Eight" manages to feel unique and new. Perhaps this freshness is due to the film's snowy setting, a rarity in the genre apart from Sergio Corbucci's fantastic Spaghetti Western "The Great Silence," or its slower, more focused and mature tone as compared to Tarantino's explosive, ADHD fantasies exemplified by "Kill Bill, Vol. 1," or the fact that "The Hateful Eight" is much more of a pointed "message film" than any of his other movies, which as he notes, are essentially pulp fiction. Regardless, it stands alone among QT's filmography and feels like an exciting and new direction for him as filmmaker.
The film, however, has some issues and, for these reasons, is not one of his best. The biggest problem with the film is that it is meant to be a pressure cooker, in which each successive conversation raises the tension so that viewers will eventually wait breathlessly, racked in anticipation of a sudden eruption of violence, just as filmgoers would as they watch a young scream queen search the house after she hears a bump in the night. Apart from a great scene between Samuel L. Jackson and Bruce Dern, the film never quite reaches its pressure cooker aspirations to gradually reach the heights of this mode of dialogue, done better in the opening to "Inglourious Basterds" and the classic "Say what one more time!" scene in "Pulp Fiction."
Tarantino's troubles with transitions are particularly noticeable here as well. Though he has been excellent at covering up this weakness in his direction by using his signature chapter breaks separating tonally distinct sections, and by stopping music abruptly and comically to start scenes of dialogue after sections without it, these transition methods seem clunky and overused in "The Hateful Eight," particularly at the halfway mark when the movie completely switches tones. As "The Hateful Eight" is more of a gradual, tension builder, the script would have benefited by smoother transitions, slowly moving the tone of the movie towards its eventual bloodbath/gore-fest feel by introducing this ambiance gradually. As it is, however, the chapter breaks, abrupt musical cut-offs, and various tone shifts dissipate tension rather than build it.
In addition to falling short of its nerve-racking aims and being plagued by pressure-deflating transitions, the use of 70 mm film stock, though perfect for the wonderful landscape shots concentrated at the beginning of the film, is unnecessary as the film almost entirely takes place in John "The Hangman" Ruth's stagecoach and Minnie's Haberdashery. The spectacle of these early shots left me wanting to go outside, just as much as the freezing characters wanted stay in. The use of 70 mm thus felt like a wasted opportunity.
Finally, though I appreciated the film's positive message of uniting blacks and whites in the cause of "justice," which is particularly timely in light of the Black Lives Matter movement, it came off as simplistic and naive, ignorant of the crux of the problem in our current racial tensions: what is "justice" in these flashpoint legal cases that have polarized our country, and how does each person's race enlighten or obfuscate his or her view of it? Though "The Hateful Eight" flirts with these questions during great conversations between Major Warren (Samuel L. Jackson), Sheriff Mannix (Walter Goggins), and General Smithers (Bruce Dern) about their sordid histories in the Civil War, an ultimate message dealing with these complex themes would have been much more resonant with modern American audiences. Spike Lee's "Do the Right Thing" feels more current in this regard.
All of my criticisms aside, "The Hateful Eight" is a great film. The music by Ennio Morricone, featuring his trademark Spaghetti Western sound with a twist of Blaxploitation bass line a la "Shaft!" perfectly summarizes the film's inspirations and aspirations, and is just plain fun. It's one of the best original soundtracks in years.
The characters are even more fun than the music: Kurt Russell's "Hangman" Ruth, ostensibly a Snake Plissken BAMF is really a Jack Burton buffoon, and it's a joy to see him in this type of roll again. Samuel L. Jackson is as intimidating as ever, as is Madsen menacing. Walter Goggins is a standout as the stupid but lively ex-Confederate Chris Mannix, while Bruce Dern, Tim Roth and Jennifer Jason Leigh all do great work in their respective roles. Keep an eye out for the lesser-known James Parks as stagecoach driver O. B. and Demian Bichir as Bob, the two funniest characters in the movie.
As a huge Tarantino fan, saying that this is not one of his best does not mean it is in any way a bad film. Mid-level Tarantino is still better than the vast majority of movies that I see each year, and "The Hateful Eight" is definitely one of the best films of 2015.