Hunt for the Wilderpeople

An often implemented concept receives a superb treatment, wherein all of Waititi’s merits are put to use – playful imagination based on reality but unhindered by realism, immeasurable fondness for total outsiders and the asocial, brilliant comedic timing, pleasure in the local New Zealand motifs, particularly those from the world of the lowest social classes, and a perfect feel for the use of non-actors. In combination with the popular humoristic novel, it is no wonder that the result became the most successful New Zealand film of all time in terms of viewership. Like, for example, Stephen Chow in Hong Kong long ago, Waititi manages to render gags of the lowest register with peculiarity and sophistication. This is not idle, thoughtless humour, but rather perfectly crafted entertainment built on precision timing and flawless mastery of the filmmaker’s art. Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd knew that everyone could fall to the ground, but only a master can do it perfectly for the camera. No matter that some viewers are unable to understand that. (12.07.2016)

As for stylization, it's pretty much unique. However, it's the stylization I’m not happy about, because the individual styles (poetics of children's adventure, more serious tone and absolutely crazy) do not match each other at all. It does not create one cohesive whole, but it goes on like this for a while and then like that, which breaks down the whole concept and therefore the emotional level does not work, that largely determines its success. So no matter how hard it tries to combine "Little Rambo viewed by Wes Anderson's perspective", the effort produced no results, which although is not boring and nice to watch and quickly passes by, but just as quickly (if not faster) gets out of your head. (17.10.2016)

With his last vampire parody Taika Waititi made me laugh like nobody else has in a long time. So I assumed the Hunt for the Wilderpeople would be in a similar vein, but I was mistaken. It sure is a funny movie. Only the good premise and a limited number of jokes were pushed aside by the New Zealand landscape, which is the main and most important character of the whole movie. Sure, the little fat kid who presents the Maori nation, suppressed by the current commercial world ruled in his case by the black gang of rappers led by Jay-Z, has enough to do with it. I simply couldn’t shake the impression that his character was sometimes a little over the edge compared to what I lived in. After the film, I almost felt like I was ceasing to understand today’s young people, even though I was one of them until recently. However, Taika Waititi directed it well, so he cleverly pitted today’s modern world against the very nature from which the Maori came, and even though the conclusion was quite brutally overdone, the film still managed to entertain me for almost two hours. (07.04.2017)

Waititi's got it in him. A film that is a first-rate and unrelenting critique of the complexity and sterility of the contemporary world, but at the same time never stops churning out amusing plot twists, metaphorical ideas and even some great lines that will stay on my mind for a long time. And where the legibly plotted development of a simple story isn't enough, the chemistry between the wilful Ricky and the hardened Sam Neill helps, as he takes on another memorable role. Armed with a volley of cinematic references, Waititi escapes into a wild territory of endless irony and hyperbole, where he never gets lost but manages to merge deliberate plot extravagance and goofiness with a cleverly intimate story that, while failing to inspire any thought, is so entertaining and functional on the surface that could be a lesson to many indie writers. Let’s hope Taika won’t get burned in Hollywood. 80% (22.04.2017)

A relaxing comedy (it sometimes reminded me of a more vulgar version of Kolya), which I would screen as a double film with Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom. It's playful, sensitive, funny, very well acted, filmed and accompanied by great music. It perhaps bothered me that it was a bit predictable. However, I wish I would see such films more often in the movie theatre. (15.11.2017)