Another classic by Tarantino

Rating: 9/10 (29 December 2015)

The Hateful Eight is a great film. In my opinion, QT has yet to make a bad film. Death Proof is an average film and Jackie Brown is a bit above average, everything else is exceptional.
First and foremost, this is a Tarantino film through and through. It leans heavily on its dialogue and has lots of over-the-top violence with characters who have a propensity for the n-word. Basically, if you don't like Tarantino's style this film isn't for you. I've seen a lot of hate on IMDb for this film, but truthfully I feel as if there is a vocal minority of IMDb users who hate on any popular recent film (the new Star Wars comes to mind), with The Hateful Eight no exception. However, take it from a Tarantino fan that this is a movie worth seeing. At no point was I bored during the film's 3 hour run time, and found it to have every ingredient that makes up a great QT film, with enough violence to satisfy, some moments of hilarity, and lots of great monologues.
Three of the best things about this film are its great cast, excellent score, and beautiful cinematography. Of course, this is to be expected. Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Bruce Dern, Michael Madsen, and Tim Roth never disappoint, which is why Tarantino keeps casting them. Jennifer Jason Leigh is probably the standout performance, however, convincingly portraying a truly disgusting human being with ease. Channing Tatum also gives a solid performance, no matter what his haters have to say. Another predictably great part of the film is Ennio Morricone's score. He's probably my favorite film composer, and makes a soundtrack that would please even Sergio Leone. The cinematography also is astounding. While the outdoor scenes are obviously the most dazzling, the interior scenes still do not disappoint in terms of cinematography. I would also recommend that anyone who lives near a theater showing the roadshow to check it out, as the wider screen makes the pictures even greater.
The weakest part of the film to me, however, was the twist reveal near the end. I felt like revealing Demian Bichir's, Michael Madsen's, and Tim Roth's characters to all be working with Daisy to be a bit of overkill. While I see why QT employed the twist of having more than "one or two" characters to be allies of Daisy, it seems like he took the least developed characters and lumped them all together. The one I found most disappointing was Michael Madsen's character, as I felt he would have been much stronger if he had his own back story and motivations. I found his fabricated story of visiting his mom to have been a more interesting path his character could have taken.
In the end, Tarantino falls short of a grand slam but still hits a home run with his newest film. I would highly recommend it to anyone who does't hate Tarantino and has a stomach for violence. I left the theater feeling that my ticket price was more than validated.