I visited the Dendy cinemas in Newtown for the first time on Monday and was pleasantly surprised.
The cinemas are small and intimate, they have a good sound and it breaths a fresh air of artistic cinema.
For anyone who actually reads my blogs/reviews, I was fired from Hoyts not long ago which explains my absence from the movies. But I am back and watching, so check it, here is a review for The Hunter which I got along to a couple of days ago.
Martin(Willem Dafoe), an industrial mercenary for some creepy bio tech company is sent to the Tasmanian wilderness with the mission to locate and collect samples from the elusive/mythical, last standing Tasmanian Tiger.
The Tiger has the ability to immobilise its prey with a special chemical it has built into its genetic make up.We don't here much about it or what the bio tech company wants from it, just that its valuable and that many people have lost their lives searching for it.
Martin lands in Tasmania to a hostile crowd of tree loggers who are in a legal battle with the Greenys about logging the Tasmanian landscape. Instantly he is mistaken for 'a Greeny and hassled about his intentions in the area.
He meets with the local hot shot Jack(Sam Neill) and is housed with the widow Lucy(Frances O'Connor) and her family. Personal connections to the family start to emerge and Martins morals are put to the test, both about his job and about the family he is staying with.
The film moves slowly, which seems to be the intention. Director Daniel Nettheim builds solid characters in both Martin and Lucy, along with her children Sass and Bike(Morgana Davis and Finn Woodlock).
Lucy is despondent and still suffering the sudden loss of her husband. Nearly a year ago he went in search for the Tasmanian Tiger and mysteriously went missing while away.
This film will appeal to the Dave and Margret crowd. It is full of nuances about moral right and wrongs, and challenges ones righteousness about certain topics blah blah blah.
Narratively it was weak, I would have preferred much more insight into the lives of certain characters and wanted to here more about Martins job, and past.
There is one scene near the start of the film( and easily the best in my opinion), where Martin first arrives to the house where he will be residing and is greeted by both Sass and Bike. Bike literally doesn't say a word the whole movie but Sass is quite talkative. Sass explains that her daddy used to love The Boss-Bruce Springsteen.
She plays a Springsteen song as Lucy wakes from her depressive slumber, she hears the music and sees a man outside playing with the kids. She is very despondent and slow, but utterly believes that this man playing with her kids is her husband finely returning home.
Its a very touching scene and tells us a lot about both Martin and Lucy....
The shots of the Tasmanian wilderness are amazing, and it was good to see a director who has predominately worked in television, create such a cinematic film.
Performance of the actors are good all round.
I still found it boring though
Two and a half from me....
