Taika Waititi Hunt for the Wilderpeople Film Review

Taika Waititi's Hunt for the Wilderpeople

1/10/2016

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Taika Waititi is putting New Zealand on the map!...Again!

Directed and Written by:

Taika Waititi

Based on:

the book Wild Pork and Watercress by Barry Crump

Cast:

Sam Neill as Uncle Hec
Julian Dennison as Ricky Baker
Rima Te Wiata as Bella
Rachel House as Paula
Oscar Kightley as Officer Andy

Length:

approx. 101 min

Genre:

Comedy
Adventure

Hunt for the Wilderpeople is the newest film by Taika Waititi that we all know and love for gifting the world with the hilarious What We Do In The Shadows, where he contributed both behind the camera as the co-director, in front of the camera as vampire Viago and he also co-wrote it of course. Hunt for the Wilderpeople was adapted by Waititi for the big screen from the book Wild Pork and Watercress by Barry Crump, but put a funnier spin to it that what the paper version originally was, he also directed it and has a small cameo in it as a Minister (that based the sermon he's preaching on a real life event he witnessed).

Hunt for the Wilderpeople is the story of Ricky Baker, a very bad egg that got in trouble for hideous crimes such as vandalizing, spitting, kicking stuff & graffiti and he’s been assigned to a foster family that lives in the bush in New Zealand. New mum Auntie Bella is a bit of a crazy bitch but she is also a very warm and welcoming mother figure while new dad Uncle Hec is just a grumpy old fart.

You will fall madly in love with these two.

Ricky starts off hating it there since there’s not much gangsta shit going on, but after a short while he gets accustomed to the laid back life… Sadly when in a movie things starts to be too cosy you know something is about to go down… and it does. After a series of unfortunate events Ricky and uncle Hec end up running away from the other equally comical duo: Paula the over zealous social worker and Officer Andy, and near enough the whole NZ army and the Kiwi's version of the FBI.

That's what a Social Worker looks like in New Zealand.

I love this film for so many reasons, here’s a few:

The cast is majestical. Sam Neill as Uncle Hec is perfect as the macho man that doesn’t want anything to do with his foster kid. Julian Dennison as Ricky Baker the very sweet but also tough life loving young boy. Rima Te Wiata as Auntie Bella is great (she is also in another Kiwi Comedy/ Horror from 2014 called Housebound that I highly recommend) and I also adored the totally insane Rachel House as Paula the Social Worker and dummy police man sidekick Oscar Kightley.
It’s F-U-N-N-Y, and I mean really hilarious. You will find yourself laughing out loud in plenty of occasions and from every directions, I mean all the actors are entertaining in their own way, and none of them are dull or corny.

It’s uplifting: I'm a sucker for a story about a cranky old man bonding with his troubled adopted kid.
It’s original!!! And that is so fucking refreshing these days!
It’s beautiful to look at: is visually breathtaking, not surprising most of it was shot on site in the NZ bush.
The soundtrack is odd but for some reason it works. It goes from some Omen sounding tune in the beginning to a birthday song improvised on the spot (because they didn’t have the right to use the other one, you know, THE 'Happy Birthday' song) almost all done by Moniker.

#StayMaori

Hunt for the Wilderpeople had its UK release on the 16th Sep 2016 but it’s been collecting praises all over the globe since its screening at the Sundance Film Festival in January, and it has a ever growing fan base worldwide, slowly but surely and has already won the title of highest-grossing NZ film of all times.

Get in Taika Waititi, keep up the good work and I can't wait to check out the new TV series/ spinoff of What We Do In The Shadows coming out next year, and most importantly don’t forget to #StayMaori!