Thriller

WOLF CREEK 2 (2014)

9keEb4xYAo732LBvtne2YZYvEnJ

How do you keep the wolf from the creek?

Avoid the creek like the plague.

This film shouldn’t have been made. It really is irredeemable, offensive and unnecessary.

Recently in Australia, Margaret & David, the hosts of ABC’s At The Movies, refused to review it. They totally should have and ripped into it and talked about how racist, misogynistic and downright nasty it was. But then that would have opened them up to criticism and maybe they just didn’t have the bottle. They represent middle Australia (if that phrase even exists). I don’t watch their show, I don’t have a television in my house, but it comes to something when they refuse to review something. Most of their viewers will probably not watch it, fair enough, but if you refuse to review a film, surely we all know that that will give it more publicity.

My fear with a film like this is that it perpetuates a stereotype in the way that Mick Taylor thinks and I have to ask where does his drive come from? I’m not over thinking this, merely asking questions.
Pure xenophobia?
It seems that way.

Especially in this second outing, there were racist undertones in the first one but not dwelled upon. Not against people of colour, against anyone who wasn’t Australian.

He is in the same league as Freddy Krueger (burned to death by the parents), Jason Voorhees (rage at drowning as a child), Norman Bates (mother issues), Michael Myers (pure evil bogeyman)…Mick Taylor (racist/misogynist/death merchant).

We were sat behind a young man and his girlfriend and he was laughing a lot at the quips Mick was coming out with during excessive violent behaviour. It was seriously weird. The tone wasn’t tongue in cheek enough for it to be funny, just disturbing.

Like I said at the beginning-Avoid.

UPDATE-Almost 9 years after seeing this film I may have been far too harsh in this review and overly influenced by the experience of sitting behind the couple in front of us and being offended by their ignorant amusement of racist tropes. The point is that Mick is a nasty bastard and represents all the ignorance and small mindedness that exists not just in Australia but the world over. The 1/5 was too harsh.
The film may not have been as bad as I said…….The 2 television series were both great.

1/5

BUY IT ON BLU-RAY DVD HERE

DOWNLOAD THE FILM ON iTUNES HERE

HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE (2013)

HUNGER-GAMES

That’s the way to do it.

There are many reasons why this film works but the main one is the casting of our main protagonist.
The glue that binds.

I’m not gonna go into it but Kristen Stewart she ain’t.

Jennifer Lawrence really is something else. She was the most interesting part in American Hustle, even though she may have been a little young for the part, you always know that she will bring something real, rooted and emotionally honest and that’s one of the main reasons why this film works.

She is present in all her scenes and gets to the heart of the complex character of Katniss Everdeen.

If you have a great lead and an intelligent story then you can put into place all the other elements with relative ease, as long as you are not an idiot (there are a few out there in the wonderful world of cinema).
The other actors, the soundtrack, the direction all blend into each other in equal parts to make the whole. A beautiful composition has all these elements and while Catching Fire is no Tchaikovsky Piano concerto in B Flat minor it is definitely way above the formula that is applied to most modern music or movies.

I equate all art to this composition theory, all elements in their perfect places complementing each other to make the whole a beautiful piece of art.

Hats off to the new director, Francis Lawrence for taking the reins off Gary Ross and running hard, fast and daring with them.
Lawrence’s previous work was I Am Legend (above average) and Constantine (what a waste) but was also interestingly involved in Kings, an alternate reality version of David and Goliath that showed some serious promise but was axed after one series.
Kings dealt with the internal power struggles and political motivations of the leaders as does Catching Fire. This is what elevates Hunger Games far above any other films aimed at tweens.
It’s not The West Wing but it intelligently deals with hierarchical structures and what they do in order to maintain their power.

It was a treat to see Philip Seymour Hoffman in one of his final performances being just brilliant again; a bittersweet moment when he entered the screen.

By the end of it you are most definitely left with the desire to get Mockingjay Parts 1 & 2 on the go as soon as is possible.
A lot happens in this film and it is testament to the director that he is able to fit it all in without the loss of quality.

Lastly props have to go to Suzanne Collins for creating a very interesting dystopia.
My brother put me onto the books a few years back when I had written them off as some Twilight meets Battle Royale bullshit, I read the first one and was more than pleasantly surprised.

Goes to show you that what you think ain’t always right.

Bring. On. The. Mockingjays.

3.7/5

BUY THE BLU-RAY DVD HERE

DOWNLOAD THE FILM ON iTUNES HERE