Starring:
Willem Dafoe - Martin
Frances O'Connor - Lucy Armstrong
Sam Neill - Jack Mindy
Morganan Davies - Sass Armstrong
Finn Woodlock - Bike Armstrong
Jacek Koman - Middleman
Callan Mulvey - Rival Hunter
Sullivan Stapleton - Doug
Dan Spielman - Simon
Director:
Daniel Nettheim (First Feature Film)
Synopsis:
THE HUNTER is the story of Martin, a
skilled and ruthless mercenary sent into the Tasmanian wilderness on a
hunt for a tiger believed to be extinct. Hired by an anonymous company
that wants the tiger's genetic material, Martin arrives in Tasmania
posing as a scientist. He proceeds to set up base camp at a broken-down
farmhouse, where he stays with a family whose father has gone missing.
Usually a loner, Martin becomes increasingly close to the family;
however, as his attachment to the family grows, Martin is led down a
path of unforeseen dangers, complicating his deadly mission.
Review:
By all accounts I shouldn't have liked this movie. It was very slow moving, a lot of dialogue but also a lot of silent wilderness trecking & tracking. Dramatic silence, long drawn out scenes. However somehow I completely loved this movie. I don't know if it's because Willem Dafoe is an incredibly talented actor. Or maybe because of my interest in cryptozoology (even though Tasmanian Tigers were real creatures). It just had something that completely drew me into it & enjoyed the mystery of both the tracking of the Tiger & the lost father of the children he stays with. There were a few slightly disturbing events throughout the film. Number one, I'm fairly certain that throughout the film as he is capturing animals to use as bait to capture the Tiger, that Willem Dafoe (or the film crew) are legit killing Wallabies (or the Tasmania equivilant to a Wallaby) which isn't very cool at all. The other is a scene where Willem is in the bath relaxing & the children run in & jump into the bath with a complete naked strange man while their mother isn't home.... that some creepy Wes Anderson shit. The plot was interesting even though it was slow moving. However I wasn't super crazy about the ending. Not because of what happened, because even though they went that route with it, it was very good & emotional. But I was mad that they did what they did. I was hoping it would go the route of leaving the mystery open to your personal interperitation, instead of giving you a definitive answer. Even with my slight dislike of the ending it was still a great movie. Sam Neill played his role perfectly. Frances O'Connor, who was a hot ticket item in the early 2000's with Bedazzled & Time-Line but then disappeared for almost ever.The film was filmed entirely in Tasmania with funding by the Tasmania Film Board, very cool. Do you even know anything about Tasmania? ask yourself that....
Rotten Tomatoes: 69%
Flixster: 65%
85%
Lead Acting: 13/15
Supporting Cast: 11/15
Plot: 10/10
Compared To The Genre: 10/10
Cinematography: 16/20
Intrigue: 15/20
Extra: 10/10
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