Quentin Tarantino strikes again with a well-written movie that is heavily driven by the plot. When I saw that Tarantino was taking on a story during the post-Civil War era, I was intrigued. Once I heard about the background of the movie, a long seven-month wait for the movie followed. I finally got to see the movie and as always, Tarantino blew me away with his approach on "The Hateful Eight."
Something that sparked my interest was Tarantino announcing that the film would be shot with tangible film, not digital. It definitely adds a new flavor to the movie because tangible film gives movies a more rustic and gritty look unlike digital. Along with that, Tarantino primarily shot with wide lenses, allowing the audience to see every detail in the shots. This allowed me to study the sets and digest the environment that played with the characters in the story. And that's what I also loved about this movie -- it was told like a story.
The movie as whole is told like a book you'd read. There are chapters implemented to space out different sections of the story. There is no abbreviating in this movie, hence why it is just over three hours in screen time. No detail is overlooked and characters' backstories go into depth smoothly.
"The Hateful Eight" definitely felt different than Tarantino's previous films. The pacing was cranked down drastically and I had to rely on listening to the dialogue in order to understand where the plot was heading. Again, the film is told like a story book. So there were dramatic cuts to a black screen following a title card for the next chapter which fit the tone of the movie flawlessly.
For the first solid hour and a half, there isn't a distinct plot. It's more of going along for the ride and waiting for the plot to unravel, which it does. Just after the halfway point is where the plot begins to thicken and tensions rise (don't worry, no spoilers here). At some points of the movie, I would be on the edge of my seat waiting for another plot device to make a move. It was a constant rush of anticipation the more I delved into the story. Sure, the first half of the movie is drawn out, but Tarantino knows what he's doing.
When the movie came to an end, I had to take a few seconds to catch my breath due to the intense ending. Few movies end well, sometimes they end too soon or drag on for too long. But for "The Hateful Eight," I was satisfied with its ending -- I can't find anything to complain about. Overall, Tarantino delivered a gripping "who done it" mystery where the plot thickens by the second. The acting was superb along with the writing and the special effects definitely added to the mix. This is by far an excellent installment to Tarantino's work. It only leaves me curious as to what he will deliver next.
