australia
[[australia]] last edit on
Mar 15, 2009
12:11 AM
by Anonymous
Baz Luhrman has made some films I like. Such as Moulin Rouge and Romeo and Juliet. Most of them seem to take place in a bit of a fantasy world (how can you have most of two? - Ed). It's a shame in a way that Australia is a bit like them.
From what I've read elsewhere this is meant to be something of a tribute to films of the 40s and 50s. It fails to do that by being way too long and less coherent. And rather annoyingly a lot of the grand sweeping backdrops in the film are faked. The greenscreen nature of them is all too obvious. When it's a film that is meant to portray the wonders of Australia it's a bit of a cop out to use fake backdrops. But still, it's only a minor niggle.
The initial story of posh English lady going out to Australia to see what is keeping her husband away and eventually being converted from hoity toity type to rugged Australian outback girl is nice and enjoyable. The grand drive of cattle over Australia whilst the bad guys try to stop them is exciting and well paced. It's full of obvious cliches but it still remains enjoyable if you're prepared to let yourself go and get into it. It would also have been great if the film had stopped there. But it doesn't. It goes on for rather a lot longer and tries do deal with some other issues which muddy up the film a bit much.
The film starts by suggesting there's going to be a theme about the abducting of half cast Aboriginal children bu takes forever to get into it and it becomes largely pointless because you're not in the mood for it after the great triumph of the earlier part of the film.
Nicole Kidman's costumes look lovely throughout the film but her acting is way over the top at first. She's better when things are a bit calmer later on. I do wonder if we'll ever hear her being Australian in a film ever again. Hugh Jackman is suitably rugged and handsome throughout but the real star of the show is the Aboriginal boy played by Brandon Walters. It's a really strong confident performance that you can't help but enjoy.
Ultimately (for those people who like to skip to the summing up block which make the rest of the review pretty pointless) the film is good and a nice romance and certainly has its charms but it is way too long. Like so many films these days. You should go see if you're a big softy like me and you're willing to let the flaws slide (and get a numb backside). I enjoyed it more than the borefest that is The Dark Knight.
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From what I've read elsewhere this is meant to be something of a tribute to films of the 40s and 50s. It fails to do that by being way too long and less coherent. And rather annoyingly a lot of the grand sweeping backdrops in the film are faked. The greenscreen nature of them is all too obvious. When it's a film that is meant to portray the wonders of Australia it's a bit of a cop out to use fake backdrops. But still, it's only a minor niggle.
The initial story of posh English lady going out to Australia to see what is keeping her husband away and eventually being converted from hoity toity type to rugged Australian outback girl is nice and enjoyable. The grand drive of cattle over Australia whilst the bad guys try to stop them is exciting and well paced. It's full of obvious cliches but it still remains enjoyable if you're prepared to let yourself go and get into it. It would also have been great if the film had stopped there. But it doesn't. It goes on for rather a lot longer and tries do deal with some other issues which muddy up the film a bit much.
The film starts by suggesting there's going to be a theme about the abducting of half cast Aboriginal children bu takes forever to get into it and it becomes largely pointless because you're not in the mood for it after the great triumph of the earlier part of the film.
Nicole Kidman's costumes look lovely throughout the film but her acting is way over the top at first. She's better when things are a bit calmer later on. I do wonder if we'll ever hear her being Australian in a film ever again. Hugh Jackman is suitably rugged and handsome throughout but the real star of the show is the Aboriginal boy played by Brandon Walters. It's a really strong confident performance that you can't help but enjoy.
Ultimately (for those people who like to skip to the summing up block which make the rest of the review pretty pointless) the film is good and a nice romance and certainly has its charms but it is way too long. Like so many films these days. You should go see if you're a big softy like me and you're willing to let the flaws slide (and get a numb backside). I enjoyed it more than the borefest that is The Dark Knight.
back to film reviews