Hunt For The Wilderpeople

This review may contain spoilers!

I've never been much of a fan of New Zealand film or Taika Waititi so i suppose I'd describe this film best as me slowly being won over. I would give Hunt For The Wilderpeople a 6.5/10.

This film was able to carry a fairly consistent comedic tone throughout the film and showcased what has made Waititi's films such a big deal, ultimately this meant that for most of the film the pacing felt good and you were left fairly entertained. What I really admired about this film was how it explored various themes such as teenage pregnancy, life in the social welfare system and Maori culture; these themes at times didn't feel incredibly well explored or explained but they stepped the film up in a way that made it stand out. The soundtrack for this film was really well used, probably some of the best moments in the film were so good because of the music accompanying them. The cinematography in this film felt rough at places but showed a strong visual eye behind the camera, setting was really well captured and most scenes looked quite well shot.

Julian Dennison, who played Ricky Baker, took a while to really get going in this film but by the end of the film he had me laughing in just about every scene; Dennison has a strong future as a comedic actor. Oscar Kightley, who played a Cop, gave a very fun slapstick performance in this film; Kightley had a particularly good display of reacting to circumstances that resulted in funny moments. Rhys Darby, who played Psycho Sam, was a fun actor to see in the 'conspiracy nut' role; Darby was unpredictable in this film and was clearly there to have a lot of fun. Stan Walker, who played a Hunter, was one of the only hunter cast members to actually seem funny; Walker had great line delivery and snapped dialogue back and forth between the rest of the cast with ease. Taika Waititi, who played a Priest, was a great cameo in this film; the gag about the two doors resulted in one of the best scenes of the film. Sam Wallace, John Campbell and Mihingarangi Forbes, who played themselves, brought incredible cameos to this film; this comedic parody of New Zealand news is quite a lot of fun to watch.

However the best performance came from Sam Neill, who played Uncle Hec. Neill's portrayal of this gruff, irritable man was quite convincing and I enjoyed the chemistry that grew between him and Dennison. Neil really embodied the rugged nature of his role and you entirely believed that he could survive the rough existence out in the bush. It wasn't surprising that in a film so strongly centred around comedy that neill could portray a role that is more grounded and easy to empathise with; certainly a standout performance.

Beyond a story that wasn't overly insightful but had a great charm to it there was one glaring problem with this film: the ending. While I had been really enjoying the film up until this point the minute all the character development was stripped away in the junkyard I lost my commitment to the film; it basically rendered the last two acts redundant and the sloppy mending of this minutes later wasn't enough to remedy the fatal mistake. The editing for this film was admittedly poor, it had me questioning whether the cinematography was actually good at times and I had to remind myself that it was the poor editing that was hampering the style not the shots.

Rachel House, who played Paula, felt like she was trying to hard in this film; any of her actually comedic moments are free for you to see in the trailer. Rima Te Wiata, who played Aunt Bella, gives a rather wooden performance in this film; her chemistry with Dennison seems really forced and she has absolutely no chemistry with Neill. Cohen Holloway and Mike Minogue, who played the Hunters, were very bland antagonists in this film; they were definitely given more screen time than they deserved. Hamish Parkinson, who played a Cop, was trying a bit to hard in this film; Parkinson is shoehorned into the film just to blather out some police jargon that you forget almost immediately.