When you think of New Zealand films, I think everyone goes straight to The Lord Of The Rings and The Hobbit trilogies. I can't imagine this new little feature film by director Taika Waititi is looking for similar expectations. But after the buzz it got from Sundance at the start of this year, one of the best films of the year is what I think many regular film-goers would have in the back of their minds going into this.

I certainly had fairly big expectations. It sounded like it would be my kind of comedy and the story sounded exciting and original to stand out from the crowd when it comes to the major awards.

While I cannot see it ending in my top 10 of the year list, it remains to be a really good watch. I have seen any of Waititi's other works. But I have always heard good things and I can see why. His style of comedy is certainly something I have not seen before. This type of off-beat quirkiness has now got me intrigued to see his previous catalogue.

As the film went on, I just got more and more into it. The laughs were gradually getting more and more frequent and I ended up being quite charmed by it all and really into this adventure story.

While there is lovely New Zealand scenery, the focus is on the characters. It is all about the on-screen relationship between Sam Neill and Julian Dennison. Neill is great as a grizzled old man and makes you how good of a performer he is. Dennison is a wonderful talent and you can tell he is enjoying every minute of it.
There are so many supporting roles that are just as memorable as the leads. Rima Te Wiata is great for the few moments she's on screen. Rachel House was a real stand-out. Hamming it up to the nth degree and she it pulled it off nicely. Also, her partnership with Oscar Kightley is funny every time they're on screen together. Tioreore Ngatai-Melbourne has great moments and Rhys Darby steals the show when it came on screen as a character called Psycho Sam.

The comedy is the thing that makes the film so great. How something can be smart and completely odd is quite a skill. I just liked the general silliness of it all. The references used was clever, and the execution managed to feel completely random, and yet still smart.
Great comedy means top writing. You can feel that it is well thought of. The director has quite a style of humor that I never seen before.

While I might not be ranking as a high as I was expecting, this is still a very funny flick, but with a lot of heart. The directing inspired me to rest of their work, there are so many memorable characters that you care for and Waititi and his team pulled off superbly.
It is shot well, the editing is great (including some slick 'passage of time' moments) and the general feeling is one of the most positive I have had this year.

Rating: 8/10