Hunt for the Wilderpeople

So this was a pretty fun movie. Sam Neil like I never seem him before plays a man named Hec living in a shack with his wife, who decides to take in a troubled youth who has been bouncing from foster home to foster home in hopes that he does not end up in juvie.  Suddenly, this guy’s wife dies leaving him to take care of the foster kid,  Ricky Baker, who runs instead of going back into foster care and do to a grave misunderstanding, Hec is now wanted by the authorizes for kidnapping the boy. Now the two are living off the land in the wilderness trying to keep out of jail.

Young Ricky Baker explains to Hec that what they are going through is a lot like Lord of the Rings, I seriously doubt that. Though both movies were filmed in New Zealand, I think Hunt for the Wilderpeople could only pay for the craft services on just one of the Ring films. Although, it was quite a big adventure.

Ricky Baker is like a fat little Hobbit and the man he calls Uncle Hec is like a crazed Gandalf. They go on a journey confronting creepy hunters, psychopaths living alone in the woods, raging warhogs and of course the law. Aiding them on their journey is Ricky’s dog Tupac and Hec’s dog Sam as they learn to bond as a family. Ricky Baker even gets to met a princess (sort of).

So I guess in a lot of ways it is like the Lord of the Rings. It’s definitely just as epic of a journey, watching them survive the terrain of the wilderness for almost a year.

There was a cameo in the movie from this guy who starred in another New Zealand film called Boy. I really like that movie and this movie has a similar style. Not a coincidence as  it turns out he directed this movie as well as Boy. Taika Waititi is a type of filmmaker I like. It’s like 80s retro style with a twist of 90s influence, which hits me right at home. It’s not that I have not seen other filmmakers use the style, but he gets uniqueness points for his use of Brown people and the New Zealand setting.  This is the a guy who I want to look out for and see his stuff, and I just discover he’s doing the next Thor, so even more reason to want to see that flick.

But see this one first, it’s an excellent adventure like Lord of the Rings but way funnier.