Review of The Hateful Eight (2015) by Canisrah — 25 Dec 2015

So like many I generally enjoy Tarantino films. After sitting through The Hateful Eight (THE) however I'm concluded that this is one of his weaker offerings.

While one of the strengths of Tarantino's films is held to be dialogue - I think THE manages to cross the line from smart and immersive dialogue into borderline pointless self-indulgence. Endless discussions between characters which don't necessarily add much to the progression of the plot (such as it is).

The narrative itself has some appeal - but it's strung out over such a long time-frame and climaxes in a pretty banal shower of blood that leaves the viewer wondering why they sat through 2.5 hours of smug dialogue just for a pretty standard bloodletting in the last 15 minutes.

There's some good characters there - and some interesting moments; a strong cast makes for enjoyable viewing in parts, but in my view this film doesn't have enough substance to warrant it's length. Nor does it hold the viewer's attention for the duration in the same manner as the director's previous film.

Also borderline irritating is the niggling feeling that we're being preached at with some sort of social or political perspective which undermines historical authenticity (though this is a minor point as I doubt the film is trying to be authentic any more than a comic book western is shooting for historical accuracy).

In summary - it's OK - but self-indulgent and ultimately underwhelming.