Hunt for the Wilderpeople (May 2016)

Official Australian release date: 26/5/16. Viewed: 24/5/16.

Director: Taika Waititi

Actors: Sam Neill, Julian Dennison, Rachel House, Rhys Darby  

Genre: Comedy / Adventure

Rating: PG

From New Zealand’s best director, Waititi (‘Eagle Vs Shark’, ‘Boy’, ‘What We Do in the Shadows’), comes ‘Hunt for the Wilderpeople’, which is a title that doesn’t  make much sense, but when explained with kid logic, it does – “Wildebeest walk thousands of miles. Feels like we’ve walked that may too. That must make us Wilderpeople!” Simple premise – Ricky (Dennison) is an orphan adopted by Bella (Te Wiata) and Hector (Neill), but when Bella dies unexpectedly, Child Services want to put Ricky back in ‘juvie’, so he runs away into the bush, where Hector has to protect him.

There’s so many things to like about this film – the score is great, the little chapter subtitles keep the pace moving, the visuals are stunning (or “majestical”), being filmed on New Zealand’s north island, there’s plenty of great jokes/quips and, most importantly, there’s lots of heart. There’s some nice sentimental moments and some sad ones, handled equally as well as the comedy. The bond formed by Hector and Ricky isn’t forced or fake – it happens naturally and you become really attached to the characters, since it’s mostly the two of them throughout.

But there’s still some time for some good support cast – Paula (House) as the ‘Terminator’-like Child Services Officer hunting them down, Waititi himself as the priest and “Psycho” Sam (Darby). Probably my only criticism is that the film needed more Rhys Darby! It’s great to see Neill understated and slowly shed his shell, but the film belongs to Dennison – chirpy, optimistic in spite of his ordeals and genuinely funny.

Overall: This director and his stars certainly have the “knack” for a great film.

Gav's Rating: 4 stars.

X-Men: Apocalypse (May 2016)

Official Australian release date: 19/5/16. Viewed: 21/5/16.

Director: Bryan Singer

Actors: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Oscar Isaac, Jennifer Lawrence

Genre: Action / Sci-Fi

Rating: M

‘X-Men: Apocalypse’ is the sixth X-Men film and the final piece in the second trilogy (2011–2016), fitting in after ‘Days of Future Past’ and before ‘X-Men’ (2000). Although the time travel of the previous film does leave a somewhat altered “reality”, so it doesn’t necessarily all fit together nicely. Plot’s pretty simple – Apocalypse/En Sabah Nur (Isaac) is the first mutant, with the ability to collect other mutants’ powers, and he’s now been resurrected and wants to destroy the world so only the strong survive. Plenty of Nazi parallels, and they use Magneto (Fassbender) and his Jewish past to emphasize this.

Some of the films like repeating the same territory, as they have to re-establish the “new” characters: Jean (Turner), Cyclops (Sheridan), Havoc (Till), Nightcrawler (Smit-McPhee) and how they fit in with Xavier (McAvoy) and his school. I guess after the other two films, they needed Mystique (Lawrence), but I’m not sure why she needs to play such a big part. And Beast (Hoult) is mostly wasted, along with Apocalypse’s Horsemen – Storm (Shipp), Psylocke (Munn) & Angel (Hardy). Some great CGI and large-scale chaos shown, but also some nice soft-touch moments, particularly between Charles & Erik – something Singer did well in the original film. One of the best bits is near the end when they almost verbatim repeat something from the 2000 film – and there’s another nice tongue-in-cheek moment when they come out of seeing ‘Return of the Jedi’ (forgot to mention the film’s set in 1983!)

I loved Metallica’s ‘The Four Horsemen’ playing when Apocalypse turns Angel into the metal-winged Archangel, worked great for the scene. Quicksilver (Peters) – despite being dead in the ‘Avengers’ films and only 10 years younger than Fassbender – is a very welcome addition here and has some great moments, particularly the Eurythmics bit. It doesn’t follow any particular comic storyline completely, but borrows from a few, with only a few nods to the 1990s ‘Age of Apocalypse’. Magneto’s motivation could’ve been better, for me, but the scenes he and Xavier are in are always good. Issac is menacing but not too over-the-top as Apocalypse, but somehow, even with the world (slowly!) crumbling, it doesn’t all click quite as well as you feel it could. Definitely a worthy addition to the franchise, but still a shame they never reached the pinnacle set by the original X-Men film.  

Overall: Fitting finale.

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars.

Bad Neighbours 2 (May 2016)

Official Australian release date: 5/5/16. Viewed: 5/5/16.

Director: Nicholas Stoller

Actors: Seth Rogen, Rose Byrne, Zac Efron, Chloe Grace Moretz

Genre: Comedy

Rating: MA

‘Bad Neighbours 2’ (or ‘Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising’ in America) is a straightforward comedy sequel – all that’s changed is the frat next door is replaced with a sorority (one of the funnier scenes involves how to spell “sorority”!). Mac (Rogen) & Kelly (Byrne) are back – as are the cute twins who play their daughter, now two years older – and still at it (literally in the opening scene). Shelby (Moretz) plays the leader of the new sorority moving in next door, but they do take some time to build her character, along with Beth (Clemons) and Nora (Feldstein) and make them non-stereotypical teenage girls – for the most part.

There’s a fair bit that doesn’t work: still heaps of pot, most of it unnecessary, with Rogen must have written into his contracts or he won’t appear, the predictable ending, annoying party/crap music scene(s) and some swearing/jokes that don’t hit the mark. However, the majority of jokes – and pranks – are funny and do work.

There’s some feminism and pro-gay sentiment in there – and one great/terrible Jewish joke – but it’s not sentimental or anything. Never going to blow minds or be a game-changer, but a decent way to spend 90min. And plenty of shirtless Efron or the ladies!

Overall: Still a simple, fun comedy.

Gav's Rating: 3 stars.