Hunt for the Wilderpeople

Because of Jojo Rabbit, I had to go on a quest to watch more films by Taika Waititi, as I'm increasingly enjoying his unique style. Hunt for the Wilderpeople once again warmed my heart with its humanity. At its core, it’s a very simple story without any innovative plot twists, but the way the film is presented won me over. Sam Neill can definitely be counted among the film’s biggest draws; his dry humor made me laugh several times, and Julian Dennison is the proverbial cherry on top. The absurdity that permeates the film at every turn didn’t bother me at all; on the contrary, I can’t really imagine the film without this huge exaggeration. As I mentioned, the film is infused with humor throughout its runtime, despite the fact that it also features serious moments that are genuinely not funny. And that’s how Waititi won me over, with his flawless ability to mix these two genres together. I give it 79%. (12/02/2020)

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)

I really enjoyed this adventurous journey through the New Zealand bush. It had pace, enough tension and of course there was no lack of emotions. I absolutely loved the style of humor, enhanced by scenes full of absurdities and exaggerations, which fed all the strange characters that appeared in the plot. Even Sam Neill impressed me, even though I don't like him much otherwise. But he played the role of the surly surrogate uncle really well. (85%) (26/03/2023)

A fairly enjoyable film starring a great Sam Neill and an interesting obese brat who performed more than convincingly. A big upside is the New Zealand scenery, which is literally a treat for the eye, and I also praise the perfect scene with the huge wild pig. There is less humour, but it's nice to watch, still I don't feel like 4*. (08/03/2017)

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)