Review: The Hateful Eight
Not a warning, not a question, a bullet.
John Ruth (Kurt Russell) is a bounty hunter taking in a woman, Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh) to hang. There's a terrible blizzard outside, his driver O.B (James Parks) comes across a man out in the snow that Ruth has met before, Major Marquis Warren.(Samuel L. Jackson) They pick up another man, Chris Mannix (Waltson Goggins) also stranded.. There they encounter Bob, (Damian Bichir) Joe Gage, (Michael Madsen) Oswaldo Mobray, (Tim Roth) and Sandy Smithers (Bruce Dern) Some of these men are not who they say, and O.B is the only decent one.
This film has opened a lot of dialogue for debate lately. Mainly with the treatment of Daisy's character. I read a lot of great pieces on the subject of that recently, from Sati's to Sasha's. That was the only part of the film I spoiled for myself. I have to say it did make me uncomfortable. My husband and I had an interesting discussion about this. I thought Daisy need more back story. We're told over and over that she's the worst. Ruth almost seems to take it personally. It made me wonder if Daisy killed someone close to him, but we never find out what exactly she did. She's just part of a gang, like others in this film are. My husband says "murder is murder" and we don't know how Ruth treats his other bounties, maybe he cracks them in the mouth several times as well. I don't agree with "murder is murder" but the point is, I think Daisy needed to be fleshed out more. Sure she says awful things and eggs Ruth on, but seeing her get punched in the face repeatedly still made me uneasy, especially since he's not exactly smacking around anyone else.
I'm still a Tarantino fan no matter what, even though this film is definitely on the low end of my personal "favorite" list. The first two hours move by very slowly, while the 3rd flies by. It's almost jarring how differently the story moves. I loved the mystery the film provided, and the score was very wild. It reminded me a bit of Suspria's. And of course, there was a few instances of the over the top, almost comical violence that Tarantino is known for.
The acting in this film is really wonderful with Leigh and Goggins being the stars for me. This is a very charismatic cast which is definitely needed when the film moves at a snail's pace for the first two hours.
Recommended: Yes. It's Tarantino, and you know you want to see it for yourself.
Grade: C+
Memorable Quote: "Tell 'em Daisy sent ya." - Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh)
Was TERRIBLY disappointed in this one. Review to be posted soon on my blog.
ReplyDeleteI always have high expectations for Tarantino films. I wanted this to be better. It's not bad by any means, but I wanted more from it.
DeleteThe trailer looked pretty funny but QT's work is a hit and miss for me. I might rent this one but I didn't really have a huge expectation about it.
ReplyDeleteIt's on the low end, so renting is probably a wise idea.
DeleteThis just has mess written all over it. UGH.
ReplyDeleteIt had moments were it's actually quite brilliant, but over all it could've been so much better.
DeleteI liked this film but didn't love it. It was WAY too long and drawn out, in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteThe length was brutal. It's too bad it didn't move as quickly as the last hour or so did.
DeleteI just saw this one last night, and it seemed to start out great but ultimately ended up being a disappointment. The way Daisy seemed to promoted I was expected her to be a much stronger character, maybe eventually pick up a gun or something. They allude to her being tough but she never really gets a chance to show it. On top of that, I'm not entirely sure who the "Hateful Eight" were supposed to be, since I'm pretty sure there were more than eight people in that cabin.
ReplyDeleteThe mystery aspect was interesting at first, but I ended up feeling like they took the easy way out by just outright stating the four guys in the cabin were the ones who killed Minnie. Daisy's brother apparently led them but he just comes out of nowhere. It might have been a good idea to maybe at least mention that Daisy even had a brother early on so we know who he is when we see him in the flashback. Of course, it was brought up that the culprits were probably working to release Daisy, but it felt kind of disappointing when that ended up being precisely the direction they went. With the mystery aspect of the film, I was kind of hoping for a more interesting twist.
Also, am I the only one who found it weird that a film that was obviously meant to be a western was borrowing heavily from John Carpenter's The Thing? They even take part of its soundtrack at least once, not to mention the composition of the scenes outdoor in the blizzard are nearly identical to those in Carpenter's film. Even the basic setup (a bunch of people trapped in a claustrophobic environment turning against each other because someone is not who they claim to be) is similar. I'm not quite sure how Tarantino made the connection that a western version of The Thing needed to exist.
I think O.B was meant to be the only non-Hateful one. He's repeatedly shown as just a good guy doing his job. I'm okay with them not mentioning the brother too since it was a piece of surprise casting. But I do agree Daisy should've been treated better. All she does it say mean things, she doesn't get to show off a lot of what (apparently) makes her so dangerous. I haven't seen The Thing.
DeleteI am hearing mixed reviews and feel that this will not be one of his best even if it is still original. I always say Tarantino needs some serious psychological help.
ReplyDeletelol he's a very interesting dude. I'm not sure if I want him to get help, he makes good movies.
Deletei was entertained (really love the mystery aspect), but yeah Daisy could have been more fleshed out.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed that part too. I can't say any of it shocked me, but it was still fun to witness.
DeleteI really, REALLY want to see this movie, but damn this f--ker is long.
ReplyDeleteBut it's Tarantino, you know? I gotta go. Damn family.
Mixed reviews be damned, I'm glad you still liked it.
The last hour moves by very quickly at least. It's not bad, it's still worth seeing. It just has issues. I hope you like it too.
DeleteYeah I just can't like this movie. That ending, what the hell was that...Tarantino went too far here. Parts of it were great, especially flashback chapter, though
ReplyDeleteParts of this were excellent, that's why I can't completely hate it. He's got some great stuff in there, but he failed all around with Daisy.
DeleteAs messy as the film is, I did like it overall. Though, I definitely agree about Daisy's backstory and the treatment of her. This film is basically a footnote in Tarantino'c career.
ReplyDeleteEssentially, and it's kind of a shame. It could've been so much better.
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