Review of The Hateful Eight (2015) by Nikolayg — 30 Jan 2016

I saw this because Inglorious Bastards was fun, and because Jennifer Jason Leigh is an unparalleled actress but she's about vanished this past decade. The Hateful Eight would finally give me a chance to see her in a movie again. However, this movie is the Samuel L. Jackson show, with everyone else getting a small piece of the pie; there are so many cast members that each piece is relatively small. So JJL didn't get much to sink her teeth into. But hey, I love Samuel L. Jackson, too, so it still could have been great.

Problem is...

...this movie has no point. It has no soul. It has no purpose. It has no emotional core. It has no theme. It has nothing but a kooky plot about scheming and killing that any 12 year old could make up during recess period. I mean, there is just nothing to this.

And to top it off, it's way too long. When they showed one of the characters removing his gloves loosening one finger at a time before taking them off, I knew we were in for trouble. The exact same script could have been shot with a half hour or forty minutes less running time and it would not have felt rushed. This film as shot just feels so slow it's painful, especially the length of time before they get to the cabin where most of the movie takes place. This is one of the only movies I ever fell asleep in, and it was for about fifteen minutes during that opening phase when the stagecoach is heading for the cabin or store or haberdashery, whatever the place is.

I do not recommend this movie, but if you must see it, rent it and fast forward when things get slow.