Long overdue. An adaptation that does the legendary source novel justice.
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Punch 2022
The film is formally expressive, with beautiful cinematography, and a great original score. The direction is inventive, and performances strong. One really wants to love the characters. But the whole suffers from a familiar tendency in NZ films, what I'd call 'straw man syndrome'. The sources of conflict are weak, and in its eagerness to bestow some positive reward on its young protagonist, the film forgets to earn it. Worse, I'm afraid, there isn't a single moment in this picture that isn't entirely predictable.
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The Raid 2022
Dull, confused, exploitative. This is a film that revels in its own ill defined resentments, while having no clear sense of its own thematic purpose. It expressly states that it's not a 're-enactment' of the misguided and heavy handed police actions in the Ureweras, so, er, what is it then? A fictionalised account of something that didn't happen? What is the point? Leaving aside its political aspirations and dubious claims of authenticity, the real problem with this picture is that it's just plain boring. A meandering mess that revels in its own unmerited self congratulation.
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