Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016) Review

To start off, for those that cannot stand the sight of seeing an animal hurt or killed, then I suggest you do not watch the film that is the focus of this review, Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016). Set in the wilderness or “bush” of New Zealand, this film a Dramity, coming of age story about a young orphan boy and an old bushman, who must come together and learn to be a family as they trek deeper into the wilds to evade the government agents who relentlessly peruse them.

After being passed from one foster home to another, young Ricky Baker arrives at the old country home of Bella and Hec, with the knowledge from his child cervices handler Paula, that due to his delinquent past if he doesn’t fit there, he will be sent to juvenile prison. After some culture shocks and attempted escapes, Ricky finally begins to Bella in to his heart accept the farm as his home. However, Bella suddenly dies, leaving him in the care of Hic. Hearing news of Bella’s death the state sends out notice that the home I no longer suitable for Ricky and they will be coming to collect him. Not wanting to go to Juvie, Ricky tries to fake his death and runs away into the bush, only to get lost and later found by Hic, who plans on bringing him back to be collected by Paula. However, after getting into an argument, Mic seriously injures his leg, and they must camo there for a few weeks until it is well enough to travel. Meanwhile Paula arrives at the farm, find nobody home and the remains of Ricky’s attempted fake death and jumps to the conclusion that Hic must of kidnaped Ricky, which starts a nationwide manhunt for the two. Neither of them wanting to go to prison, the two of them run away deeper into the wilderness, in the end, they are eventually caught, however, they are eventually reunited and finally become a real family.

This movie does well in capturing the ray beauty of the New Zealand wilderness, there are many scenes that depict it, from lakes, to steams, to the forests, mountains and even the plains. The movies dips a bit into the local culture, however, I kind of would have liked to see more of it. my only negative for this movie if I had to give one, would be the shout bit of CGI they used in the second Boar scene, It looked a bit cheezy.

Over all the movie looked great beside that one scene with the boar that utilized CGI. The sounds, music, scenes and special effects all really meshed well together for what it was. Though there was one glaring part that jumped out at me in the beginning when Ricky first comes to the home, Bella and Ricky are having a conversation and Hic, who is fairly far away from them, says something to add to the conversation and it sounded as if it was right next to them and not from a distance. Other than that, good job, even on the cheezy moments as they added to the movies over all comedic feel.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, at first I didn’t think I was going to, but the humor, and recklessness just pull you in. I especially enjoyed the M.A.S.H. esk style they have going for the movie where they take a serious topic and just litter it full of humor, which changes the mood of the movie entirely, this very well could have been done as a serious drama. I would defiantly recommend this to other people to watch, however, if you are like my mother, as I said In the beginning if you can’t stand the sight of animals being hurt or killed, this movie is not for you.