The Hateful Eight is Classic Quentin Tarantino

First, let me catch my breath here while I digest what I just watched. The Hateful Eight was quite literally everything you would expect out of a Quentin Tarantino movie, from the usual cast of characters, to the movie split into chapters, to the incredibly prolonged monologues. Oh, don't forget about the gratuitous blood and violence that you see in literally every single one of his movies.

Is this the best Tarantino movie? Absolutely not. But it's a brilliant example of how Tarantino has developed as a director. This movie begs to be seen on the big screen. He shot this film in 70mm--as opposed to the usual 35mm--for a reason. The wider lens gives the moviegoer a unique experience. While the majority of film is shot inside of a small, isolated haberdashery in Wyoming, the remaining shots are of the wide, tranquil landscape and breathtaking sights that truly show the beauty of snowy wilderness in the secluded mountains.

And the wide screen works just as well, or even better, with the ridiculous amount of dialogue between the eight travelers themselves. Unlike his previous two movies, Inglorious Basterds and Django Unchained, the plot is simple, and often takes a backseat to the acting brilliance of Samuel L. Jackson, Tim Roth and most especially Jennifer Jason Leigh, the film's lone female lead.

Kurt Russell (left) and Samuel Jackson (right) in The Hateful Eight.
Photo courtesy of www.hitfix.com

Everything from a wry grin to an eye twitch is enhanced by the 70mm wide view. From Major Marquis Warren's (Jackson) first prolonged conversation with John Ruth (Kurt Russell), to Daisy Domergue's (Jason Leigh) last confrontation with Sheriff Chris Mannix (Walton Goggins), the camera constantly shifts to each actor's face as they speak, and that's all you see. They take up the entire screen, and with a film that relies so heavily on dialogue, it's almost necessary.

From the moment Warren, Ruth, Mannix and Domergue arrive at the Haberdashery, the tension is palpable. The film is set not too long after the Civil War, and racial tensions were sky high. When you mix in the fact that former Union Officer Warren is conversing with both a confederate general and a member of a southern renegade group, as well as a bounty hunter and his prisoner, well, I assume you can probably guess how that all plays out in classic Tarantino fashion.

My favorite scene of the entire film was when Maj. Warren (Jackson), had a minutes long conversation, like he always does in Tarantino's films, with the confederate General Sandy Smithers (Bruce Dern) about the General's son. All of this while "Silent Night" is being played on the piano in the background. It was a brilliant scene made even better with a unique song choice for which Tarantino has become known. Jackson's quickly becomes the center of attention and the main protagonist for every conflict we see.

Tim Roth in The Hateful Eight
Photo courtesy of MoviePilot

But Jackson wasn't alone in delivering a killer performance. Tim Roth and Jennifer Jason Leigh were mightily entertaining. Roth, who starred in previous Tarantino films such as Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, did his best Christoph Waltz impersonation. And I mean that as a compliment in the highest regard. Everything from his quirky hand movements, to his prose in a British accent. Even his facial hair,reminded me of Dr. King Schultz. As Oswaldo Mobray, the new Hangman in the town of Red Rock, the small village where everyone is headed, Roth provides a sort of energy and lightheartedness that is often needed to break up the stuffiness of the room, and it was a welcomed return to the big screen for Roth.

But it was Jennifer Jason Leigh who had the best performance of the bunch. We're first introduced to her in the back of a a horse-drawn wagon with Ruth. Already showing the battle wounds of being Ruth's prisoner, Domergue spends the majority of the movie eating fists, elbows and pistols to the face, courtesy of Ruth. Every chance she gets, she hurls some sort of insult toward Maj. Warren, even when spending the majority of movie looking like Carrie covered in pig's blood. Quite honestly, it wouldn't be surprising to me at all to see her get an Oscar nod. She was that good.

The movie is three hours long, but it doesn't drag on. It's wildly entertaining, and although the plot lines are shallow at times, the sheer acting firepower in this movie is reason enough to see the Hateful Eight at least once.

Ruby Rating: 8/10