Hunt For The Wilderpeople
By Gregory McLinden
Hunt for the Wilderpeople is easily one of my favourite films of all time, I say that with much confidence and certainty as I don't think will change any time soon. This film is a masterpiece in film-making. In the future people who go on to study film as a career will be made to watch Hunt for the Wilderpeople as evidence of a perfect film. Okay maybe that is admittedly a bit far, by my point still stands this film is truly incredible. Much of the film only focuses on two characters foster child Ricky Baker played by Julain Dennison, and Uncle Hec played by Sam Neill. The film follows their journey through the bush as they live out many months out there surviving and getting by, all while a huge man hunt is out to find and locate them and get them back to safety. The chemistry between Dennison and Neill on screen is truly incredible, as well as the both physical and emotional journey these characters go on being some of the best ever seen. Without any spoilers, if this film doesn't bring a tear to your eye at some point then nothing on screen ever will. There are some sweet, heartwarming moments as we watch Ricky and Hec go from polar opposites to this relationship flourishing as the film progresses. The comedy in this film is also out of this world. There are some true belly laugh moments in this film that no matter how many times you may rewatch the film, they will make you laugh just as hard as you did the first time, the church scene below being a particular favourite of mine (but it does contain spoilers). This is all thanks to the incredible world of the writer and director Taika Waititi. He is without a doubt one of the best comedic voices out there today. His style of comedy is so unique it'll have you wondering why certain things are making you laugh as much as they are, quick answer: Taika Waititi is why. Other than the main characters there are two characters whose presence on screen will make you smile as you know you are in for a treat they are Paula Hall from Child Welfare Services who delivers some of the most quotable moments, as well as Psycho Sam who is unfortunately only in the film for a small portion of it but dammit he's just incredible, and is begging for a Netflix spinoff so Taika if you're reading I have an idea. The film is also beautifully shot. The cinematography watching these characters travel through the New Zealand bush is remarkable, and for an adventure film is not something you would necessarily expect to see but it truly shows of the beauty of New Zealand, and again comes back to the incredible filmmaker that is Taika Waititi. Sometimes when watching films you feel that sudden urge to want to book flights and travel the world, and I come to warn you that this film you make you want to do exactly that, if you manage to watch this film and by the end of it don't want to be on the first plane to New Zealand then hats off to you. This film is truly a work of art and I urge everyone to see it, I haven't recommended or shown this film to someone and not been met with praise and thanks, this film is truly remarkable. Taika Waititi does it again.
logline: A national manhunt is ordered for a rebellious kid and his foster uncle who go missing in the wild New Zealand bush.
Source: IMDb
My Favorite Characters:
Julian Dennison as Ricky Baker - Ricky has a tough life, going from foster home to foster home and never really settling in anywhere he goes, then finally with Aunt Bella and Uncle Hec life seems normal and he's finally settled in, that is until something occurs that sees Ricky's life be turned upside down once again and flee into the New Zealand bush. Before HFTW Dennison was an unknown, but by God he's not now. He proved his incredible comedic wit, which he then went on to show even more in Deadpool 2 where his ability as a comedian truly shone, He's only continued to grow from strength to strength with him also starring in the upcoming Godzilla vs Kong. But not only does his ability as a comedic actor show but also his ability as an actor. All too often child actors are somewhat, to put it nicely, a bit crap. But I don't think anyone can even begin to try and say that about Julian Dennison. There are several scenes in HFTW that truly show his ability as an actor - with these scenes leaving you just wanting to give Ricky a huge hug because of all the troubles he has gone through. This is the start of an incredible career for Dennison with a bright future both as a comedian and an actor.
Sam Neill as Uncle Hec Faulkner - Uncle Hec starts the film with very little dialogue but you know the presence of Ricky in his household is not something he is exactly happy about. Sam Neill is one of the finest actors to ever grace the screen, I am giving you an excuse to rewatch Jurassic Park to reaffirm this, he is truly incredible. More recently his work in the UK show Peaky Blinders have brought him back into the limelight where he once again showed what an incredible actor he is. In HFTW he plays the reluctant foster parent to Ricky. As the film progresses with see Neill effortlessly play someone who wants nothing to do with the child, to someone who starts having genuine feelings and love towards this child. The performance Neill gives in this film is one of the greats with many other critics praising his performance when the film came out, if not for anything else watch this film for Sam Neill you won't be disappointed.
Rachel House as Paula Hall - In every film someone has to be the villain in this case it's Paula Hall. She doubts the ability of Hec to look after Ricky and so she makes it her mission to get Ricky back into her care as a Child Welfare Officer, cue massive nationwide hunt. She is easily one of the funniest characters in the film with a hilarious scene debating who is Sarah Connor from Terminator being one of the standout moments of the film. Rachel House again is a relatively unknown actor you would be forgiven for having never heard of her. However, I dare say if you said her name in New Zealand everyone would know who you are talking about. In Hollywood there seems to be some iconic director/actor pairings for example Martin Scorcese and Leonardo DiCaprio, or Christopher Nolan and Michael Caine. Taika Waititi and Rachel House are the one to look out for though, she starred in Thor Ragnarok as The Grandmaster's sidekick, as well as starring in Boy and Waititi's upcoming Next Goal Wins. She truly is a comedic great and I can't wait to see her in more films as she is truly hilarious.
Something I Liked: Taika Waititi. I cannot express enough how truly incredible I think Taika Waititi is. Everything he touches turns to gold. He directed, wrote and produced the incredible Jojo Rabbit, which for those of you who have seen it will know what a piece of art that film is, which Waititi rightly won an Oscar for. The incredibly popular US TV What We Do In The Shadows is based off the 2014 film of the same name which Waititi directed and co-wrote with Jermaine Clement, to which he also did the TV series. Waititi also directed the final episode of the first series of The Mandalorian, with his signature comedy evident in the hilarious Stormtrooper exchange at the start of the episode. And of course who can forget the film that breathed new life into the Marvel Cinematic Universe - Thor Ragnarok. We have Waititi to thank for that truly incredible, hilarious, explosion of absurdity, innuendo and colour, because lets be honest up until this point most people considered the Thor films a lost cause, now thanks to Waititi Thor will be the first character in the MCU to have a fourth film. But is he stopped there? Absolutely not. He is currently in the process of writing the fourth Thor film, in post production for a new film called Next Goal Wins, writing and directing an as yet unknown Star Wars film, writing and directing TWO animated TV series' for Netflix one focusing on the world of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the other the story of the Oompa-Loompa's, he has also been confirmed to be writing, series 3 of What We Do In The Shadows. Then as if that wasn't e-fucking-nough Taika Waititi is also an incredible comedy actor, and yes you're damn right he's found time to continue acting - you will see in Free Guy starring Ryan Reynolds at the end of this year, and next year he will be starring in The Suicide Squad directed by James Gunn, and he will also reprise his much loved character of Korg in Thor: Love and Thunder. I realise this Logline is actually about Hunt for the Wilderpeople and this has largely been focused on my love/obsession with Taika Waititi but I promise it's all relevant as all these incredible achievements and accolades Taika Waititi has gained would all not be possible if it wasn't for Hunt for the Wilderpeople. He wasn't on many people's radars outside of New Zealand but because of the huge success and worldwide critical acclaim of Hunt for the Wilderpeople Taika Waititi was thrown straight into the limelight and he has quickly become one of Hollywood's most in need directors/writers/producers/actors. At the end of the day there aren't many people who can say they have written and directed two Thor films, written and directed a Star Wars film, starred in a DC film, have one of the most successful films of all time in New Zealand, been in the highest grossing film of all time (Korg in Avengers: Endgame), been recognsied by the Queen of New Zealand and been awarded the New Zealand Order of Merit, and on top of all that - played Adolf Hitler on screen. The guy is true legend.
Fun Fact: Hunt for the Wilderpeople was made entirely in and by New Zealand studios and filmmakers. As such it is the most successful New Zealand made film in New Zealand ever. It was also the first NZ made film to make more than NZ $1 million on its opening weekend. It was also the highest grossing film in New Zealand in 2016 beating Deadpool, Finding Dory, Suicide Squad, Captain America: Civil War, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and many other big releases. It also won 6 awards at the New Zealand Film and TV Awards in 2017, including Best Film and Best Director. I think it's fair to say New Zealand well and truly loved this film and it's not difficult to see why!
This movie is rated PG-13 in the US and 12 in the UK. Here’s why:
Infrequent Bloody Moments
Innuendo/Mild Sexual Moments
Mild Language
Where to Watch:
Amazon Prime Video (UK and US)