ronan73

I love this series, this is the second time Ive watched it. Casting is a touch off but otherwise..super enjoyable. But, to the people who keep marking all my reviews thumbs down, this is for you...

I liked this a lot, interesting, good story, original, well directed and did i say original? Ending of series isn't the best but the originality, direction, staging and writing were all exceptional.

I re-read some of my older reviews and found certain reviews had lots of thumbs down, no matter if i score high or lowish. Example- I scored a film 9, said it made me cry and the famous female writer/director could have an outstanding career....and yet that got lots of thumbs down. That is every thing wrong with a certain section of society...They are filled with hatred for everyone who doesnt think exactly like them. These are the same people who score films 1, for political and not movie reasons...left and right.

That mini rant was because no matter how good I think this particular episode is or how ever well i think the last episode led into it with sister Megan emotionally singing "i dont know how to love him", or how interesting and beautiful it was to look at.....this review will probably get a stack of thumbs down because somebody hates Christians. Sadly I see it happen all the time.. Back to Grotesquerie, as soon as this episode openes you can tell, just from the direction, that its going to be at very least....interesting to watch. But its so much more. The direction, the story, the colours, the hidden messages, the clues...all of it is original ..sadly it may lose some people. But thats ok I really want to talk about all the little clues etc, but I dont do spoilers, so watch it and enjoy it for yourself....

An easy 9/10.

What on earth is wrong with all the 1 star reviewers?....all i can say is..if you think this film is aimed at you then maybe read a book and broaden your horizons a bit instead of leaving a super angry 1 star review pretending you are that upset by the lighting or location or whatever other nonsense your pretending to be angry by, because you know if you tell the truth it will make you look like a narrow minded fool....the irony is delicious!.

Nope not perfect and yep it bounces around a bit but its blatant what the point of the story is. I wont give too much more away because the first bit of my review kinda explains the premise of the movie in itself.

If you are a baby and get triggered by liberals or conservatives or immigrants or foreign countries or the elites or the animal farm or guns or hunting or political correctness or lack of blood or "red necks" or strong women or pigs in jumpers then maybe save yourself the stress and go and sit in an echo chamber with your friends... This movie is silly and a bit of fun....6/10.

This is a tremendous film. Genuinely superb. A couple of years ago my wife and I spent a month travelling around new Zealand, north and south. Its a very beautiful place but very expensive to live and this story tells you the beginning of how that happened. There are still issues between indigenous people and everyone else. So sad that the wealth wasnt shared.

To the film.

Its not perfect and a few small direction issues, I think down to timing and budget constraints, but when its right it is absolutely bang on the money. And what else could you expect from Lee Tamahori. Lest we forget he started his Big screen directing journey with the heart shattering Once were Warriors! One of the first films I remember showing me the power of small budget movies.

The story is pretty straight forward. Guy pearce, who has aged like a fine wine by the way, is an ex British military man but now a peaceful lay preacher. He decides to travel to Beautiful New Zealand to set up in a small ministry in a remote tiny but burgeoning British settlement.

On the way Guy stumbles across 2 battling maori tribes. He manages to intervene and rescue Rangimai, the daughter of another maori tribe chief.

When he finally arrives at the British out post he soon finds things may not be as "civilised" as he hoped. On top of the British politics there are also two warring tribes on the outskirts.

Things begin to unravel when an incident in the camp causes an awakening in Pearce.

Pearce pulls off some truly 1st class acting in several scenes. One scene inside the Maori elders hut pretty much brought me to tears. When you see it you will know.

I dont do spoilers but I will say this is possibly a modern retelling of the story. As back then war and tribalism and trading were the only answer..no matter where in the world you hail from.

I was going to put a small history lesson in here about the British shipping empire. But i know it would upset small minded unread people. Just that every nation on the planet was built from blood. Every country, people and race have come from spilt blood and trading. Absolute fact. Keep that in mind when watching this movie.

Back to the movie, the positives of this movie and they seriously outweigh the negatives.

Let me first say to the nay sayers, go to the theatre more. You will learn to watch the story and acting as they dont have the resources and ability to reshoots like a movie does.

A movie needs only 4 things, story, direction, great actors but most importantly a script. If any of those 4 things are missing the film will diminish. Yes you can add fluff, scenery and special effects etc but the first 4 things push a film to excellence.

12 angry men is 12 men in a room chatting...need i say more?

This film has issues and a few reshoots by the look of it, but who cares? As a whole it is beautifully done, beautifully shot, some superb acting and probably on a very tight budget by the looks of things.

Ive chatted enogh so Just go watch it. Its an 8 all day long.