Taika Waititi once again successfully brings his unique style of comedy to the big screen with Hunt for the Wilderpeople. Waititi's previous film, What We Do in the Shadows, was a hilarious mockumentary about vampires. Hunt for the Wilderpeople uses a similar satirical tone but in a coming of age story. While What We Do in the Shadows felt very original, Hunt for the Wilderpeople is just an all around good time full of laughs and awkwardness.
Waititi's use of montage conventions keeps the audience engaged at all times and creates a quick slapstick pace for the film. Clocking in at 1 hour and 41 minutes, this movie feels no longer than an hour. When Ricky (Julian Dennison) decides to run away from home, he is followed by old and moody Hec (Sam Neill). The overall tone of this one is an odd mesh between The Kings of Summer and Mad Max: Fury Road. The film rides the edge between indie and blockbuster, with Waititi becoming a well known director. Dennison brings in a younger audience with his antics and revolting ideologies, while Neill acts as a perfect classic mentor. Both performances are heartfelt and believable. Also, I love the two cops trying to find Ricky. Big props to both of those actors as well!
Going beyond this film, I am excited for Waititi's future career as a director. With Thor: Ragnarok, a new tone will be brought to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Guardians of the Galaxy turned out to be a huge success and I think Thor: Ragnarok could have even more success with Waititi at the helm. Waititi has so far been really good at bringing comedy and drama together, which is exactly what the MCU has been trying to do with some success. He is also doing an amazing job with filming certain landscapes such as the New Zealand bush area and the dark cityscapes in his vampire flick. While it is unfortunate that Waititi is sucked into the MCU now, I am sure that there will be plenty more films that he helms afterwards.
Image credit: http://media.moviemanager.biz/movies/Hunt-For-the-Wilderpeople_28638_posterlarge.jpg
Waititi's use of montage conventions keeps the audience engaged at all times and creates a quick slapstick pace for the film. Clocking in at 1 hour and 41 minutes, this movie feels no longer than an hour. When Ricky (Julian Dennison) decides to run away from home, he is followed by old and moody Hec (Sam Neill). The overall tone of this one is an odd mesh between The Kings of Summer and Mad Max: Fury Road. The film rides the edge between indie and blockbuster, with Waititi becoming a well known director. Dennison brings in a younger audience with his antics and revolting ideologies, while Neill acts as a perfect classic mentor. Both performances are heartfelt and believable. Also, I love the two cops trying to find Ricky. Big props to both of those actors as well!
Going beyond this film, I am excited for Waititi's future career as a director. With Thor: Ragnarok, a new tone will be brought to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Guardians of the Galaxy turned out to be a huge success and I think Thor: Ragnarok could have even more success with Waititi at the helm. Waititi has so far been really good at bringing comedy and drama together, which is exactly what the MCU has been trying to do with some success. He is also doing an amazing job with filming certain landscapes such as the New Zealand bush area and the dark cityscapes in his vampire flick. While it is unfortunate that Waititi is sucked into the MCU now, I am sure that there will be plenty more films that he helms afterwards.
Image credit: http://media.moviemanager.biz/movies/Hunt-For-the-Wilderpeople_28638_posterlarge.jpg
