“The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the
inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in
the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of
darkness, for he is truly his brother’s keeper and the finder of lost
children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious
anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know
my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee.”
Reservoir Dogs, Kill Bill, Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown. Classics. Bar raisers, the inspiration for a million writers, directors, actors. Different genres written with deft skills, performed by newbies, oldies, comeback kids all been glued by cracking soundtracks.
Tarantino has consistently proved a master of the twist, the funny in a world of violence, irony in taboo verbiage and the vision to shoot the spectacular.
Westerns have proved popular and to be honest a fucking brilliant era for Quentin – Django Unchained (the D is silent) so the Hateful Eight with go to monologue man Samuel L Jackson on board, Kurt Russell the come back kid plus some actors you don’t expect (Channing Tatum). It is set up to be another classic. But sadly no.
Yes, it’s shot beautifully, yes there are pointers to a twist somewhere and of course there is violonceagogo plus the language to match.
Set six or eight or twelve years after the Civil War, a stagecoach hurtles through the wintry Wyoming landscape. The passengers, bounty hunter John Ruth (Kurt Russell) and his fugitive Daisy Domergue, race towards the town of Red Rock where Ruth will bring Domergue to justice. Along the road, they encounter two strangers: Major Marquis Warren (Samuel L Jackson), a black former union soldier turned infamous bounty hunter, and Chris Mannix (Walon Goggins), a southern renegade who claims to be the town’s new Sheriff. Losing their lead on the blizzard, Ruth, Domergue, Warren and Mannix seek refuge at Minnie’s Haberdashery, a stagecoach stopover on a mountain pass. When they arrive at Minnie’s, they are greeted not by the proprietor but by four unfamiliar faces. Bob, who’s taking care of Minnie’s while she’s visiting her mother, is holed up with Oswaldo Mobray, the hangman of Red Rock, cow-puncher Joe Gage (Madsen), and Confederate General Sanford Smithers. As the storm overtakes the mountainside stopover, the 8 characters are left to make friends and enemies alike.
To be honest it really drags. Unlike Tarantino’s previous offerings this doesn’t build, the tension isn’t there and only when Jackson starts monologuing do we start to see any of Tarantino’s trademark skill. You know there’s a twist but don’t know how or where it’s coming.
So, the last 30 minutes saves this initial bore fest in a brilliant Tarantino way. I don’t have to say anymore, it’s just brilliant if you can get past the first 90 minutes of what could have been packed into maybe 45.
So, time aside, it’s very cool, it’s excellently written, the go to actors that dip in and out of his films are solid, funny, unexpected.
No, there is no twist like From Dusk to Dawn, however there is a fucking brilliant shoot out that Ronnie Kray would definitely loved to have been a part of.
Go see it or wait for Sky but perhaps skip the first 90 minutes then get blown away.
Whats you Onions?
RPOS Guv X
rare pair o'strides 