Sunday, January 3, 2016

MOVIE REVIEW - The Hateful Eight

Quentin Tarantino always makes you kind of wince and laugh all at the same time, and that's the same formula here in his latest flick.

This is another story that is long and drawn out like many Tarantino flicks putting you on a slow burn for much of the time.  This is a western of sorts, all taking place basically in this lodge deep in the Wyoming mountains during a blizzard in the late 1800's.   It's a bunch of bounty hunters, and thugs marooned in this lodge because of the extreme weather.  There, it becomes a tale of greed, violence and baggage that runs deep in the minds of these men, as the Civil War is still fresh for all of them, who had a part in it from both sides.

This spends about the first half putting together a nice story, and developing some powerful characters And the last half it becomes the classic Tarantino highly and graphically violent piece that is his staple.  For some, this will simply be too much as all his movie can be.  But this does take on the classic Tarantino irony, and almost cartoonish feel as the violence is so over the top and so extreme.

Is this one of his best movies? Well, no.  And that's a shame as it boasts a real nice cast with Kurt Russel, Samuel L. Jackson, Channing Tatum, and others.  Most of his movies are a bit drawn out, and usually that's okay, but here it's belabored.  It simply takes too long to get where it's going.  Russel is simply terrific in this as a ruthless bounty hunter who is very complex.  Jackson too is great as our principle character.  Major kudos too to the incredible supporting cast who all are strong. 

This movie has a nice look to it as the sets are great and the costuming is Oscar worthy.  This overall is good and entertaining.  If you have never seen a Tarantino flick, might be a good idea to Netflix one to see if the style is tolerable for you.  I am a fan of many of his movies, but they are certainly  a niche style. 

The Hateful Eight.  This is good, but not my favorite Tarantino flick.