If there’s anything you can’t accuse Quentin Tarantino’s newest film and second full-fledged western The Hateful Eight of, it’s false advertising. Our protagonists are exactly what the title implies- an octuple of the nastiest, backstabbing, murderous drifters you could ever have the misfortune of being stuck inside a cabin with during a vicious blizzard. Samuel L. Jackson’s mysterious bounty hunter character Major Marquis Warren is arguably the closest the film has to a rootable lead, and as the film gradually reveals, his hands are perhaps the bloodiest within the entire group.
You can make an entertaining and compelling story with morally bankrupt and repellent heroes (I say this as someone whose favorite hero is probably Captain America). But it does require for the story’s universe to have a sound morality in itself. And luckily this film does have a decent sense of karma, which is why I think it succeeds where something like the old Comedy Central show Drawn Together, which also had a gang of eight depraved personalities sharing living space, failed. As twisted as the cast and the unfolding situation is, there is a bizarre sense of justice that remains prevalent.
Major Warren has the dubious fortune of sharing a stagecoach with an irascible trapper named John Ruth (a grumbly but strangely charismatic Kurt Russell) and his unassuming driver O.B. (James Parks), bringing the murderous gang member Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh, hamming it up like a woman possessed) to the gallows in the nearby town of Red Rock. It’s unclear whether or not Quentin’s vision of Reconstruction takes place in the same universe as Django Unchained, but much like that film there are similar racial tensions between all of the characters here. Warren and Ruth, who isn’t exactly the most progressive mountain man around, frequently respond to the vile Domergue’s racist taunts with smacks to the face, which she only seems to relish in as she gleefully licks the blood off her mouth.
After picking up Chris Mannix, the southern sympathizing good-ole-boy sheriff of Red Rock (Walton Goggins), they make their way to Minnie’s Haberdashery for shelter from the blistering cold, where they meet the surly Confederate general Smithers (Bruce Dern, nowhere as pleasant as the Simpsons character who shares his name), a posh Brit named Oswaldo Mobray (Tim Roth), the laid back Bob (Demian Bichir) and the gravelly-voiced cowpoke Joe Gage (Michael Madsen). After making tentative attempts to bond with his cabinmates, Ruth is initially suspicious that the sleepy store might be some sort of trap, and as the tensions rise, Maj. Warren gradually becomes an Old West detective of sorts as they try to find out who Domergue is in cahoots with.
And this is where a good deal of patience is required from the audience. At three hours plus The Hateful Eight is blatantly a slow burn, and the action doesn’t seriously kick into high gear until some point around the 90 or 100-minute mark. Tarantino takes advantage of his 70 mm format, using long takes to gradually build a sense of unease and impending mayhem, and when said mayhem eventually arrives it’s fast paced and cartoonishly gory even by the acclaimed writer/director’s usual standards. Fortunately it’s tied into a decent potboiler (both literally and figuratively) where the motley crew gradually reveal their backstories. Warren’s especially provides some very, very dark humor.
For a few brief moments, it almost seems as if the eight scoundrels might even spark a friendship despite their differences, but that would be pretty disappointing given all the insanity that was advertised. And sure enough, the niceties are promptly thrown out into the snow once it becomes apparent there’s a conspiracy afoot.
Accompanied by a foreboding score from Ennio Morricone and a couple of brief narrations from himself, Tarantino’s newest gunslinging dramedy is definitely a film that will appeal to his loyal fans more than anyone else. While I did enjoy it, I’ll admit it’s not going to be his most accessible work due to its graphic violence, slur-slinging protagonists and grim atmosphere. However, it’s artfully shot and constructed, and there are plenty of strong performances among the cast, particularly from Jackson, Leigh and Goggins. I’ll recommend it mainly for the QT faithful or anybody who loves modern spaghetti westerns.