Hunt for the Wilderpeople

A relaxing comedy (it sometimes reminded me of a more vulgar version of Kolya), which I would screen as a double film with Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom. It's playful, sensitive, funny, very well acted, filmed and accompanied by great music. It perhaps bothered me that it was a bit predictable. However, I wish I would see such films more often in the movie theatre. (16/11/2017)

If I were supposed to take care of that fat bastard (sorry, morbidly obese troubled boy), it would definitely be a short film, as he definitely wouldn't survive his attitude in the beginning. The longer I watched, the more obvious it was that it was a typical family film, whose plot, despite its many unlikely adventures, was inevitably marching towards a happy ending, which isn’t exactly my thing. It’s not that I hate happy endings, but the story just wasn’t any good. I’m not sure why the characters repeatedly said there were a million hectares of the Bush around them, when both runaways kept stumbling across people all the time. Lame. (10/03/2018)

As for stylization, it's pretty much unique. However, it's the stylization I’m not happy about, because the individual styles (poetics of children's adventure, more serious tone and absolutely crazy) do not match each other at all. It does not create one cohesive whole, but it goes on like this for a while and then like that, which breaks down the whole concept and therefore the emotional level does not work, that largely determines its success. So no matter how hard it tries to combine "Little Rambo viewed by Wes Anderson's perspective", the effort produced no results, which although is not boring and nice to watch and quickly passes by, but just as quickly (if not faster) gets out of your head. (17/10/2016)

A fairly enjoyable film starring a great Sam Neill and an interesting obese brat who performed more than convincingly. A big upside is the New Zealand scenery, which is literally a treat for the eye, and I also praise the perfect scene with the huge wild pig. There is less humour, but it's nice to watch, still I don't feel like 4*. (09/03/2017)

An often implemented concept receives a superb treatment, wherein all of Waititi’s merits are put to use – playful imagination based on reality but unhindered by realism, immeasurable fondness for total outsiders and the asocial, brilliant comedic timing, pleasure in the local New Zealand motifs, particularly those from the world of the lowest social classes, and a perfect feel for the use of non-actors. In combination with the popular humoristic novel, it is no wonder that the result became the most successful New Zealand film of all time in terms of viewership. Like, for example, Stephen Chow in Hong Kong long ago, Waititi manages to render gags of the lowest register with peculiarity and sophistication. This is not idle, thoughtless humour, but rather perfectly crafted entertainment built on precision timing and flawless mastery of the filmmaker’s art. Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd knew that everyone could fall to the ground, but only a master can do it perfectly for the camera. No matter that some viewers are unable to understand that. (12/07/2016)