★ 8 / 10
Dear _Red Hill_. I like you. Fondest wishes
Gimly
Dear _Red Hill_. I like you. Fondest wishes, Gimly... Ahem, just thought I'd make my opinion pretty straight forward from the get go. It's Australian, so…
Dear _Red Hill_. I like you. Fondest wishes, Gimly... Ahem, just thought I'd make my opinion pretty straight forward from the get go.
It's Australian, so points. It's got tonnes o' blood and night skies, so points. An Aboriginal with a half a face actually kills someone with a boomerang (there you go Luke, apparently it is possible!), so points. There's lots of fire, but no explosions, so points. The executive producer is Greg McLean (the kid behind _Wolf Creek_ and _Rogue_) so points. Plus, it's entertaining!
And I mean come on, Steve Bisley's in the damn thing! (the guy who played Goose in _Mad Max_). Ryan Kwanten (_The Knights of Badassdo, True Blood_) and Tom E. Lewis (_The Proposition_) make their presence known as the protagonist and antagonist respectively.
It's a little crazy, some sort of... Horror/Crime/Thriller/Western hybrid with a couple of comedic moments. Not that it's a comedy, or cheesy, just a bit funny once or twice... Like! There's this one bit where... Nah, better not ruin it. It's good though!
The score's great, one of the better I've heard lately. Though some of the more extreme Western elements bothered me (like quick-draws, horseback cops and white cowboy hats, etc.) I was more than willing to forgive these, after all, we as Australians are not yet in a position in the film industry where we can afford not to pander to the Yanks.
First time Director Patrick Hughes certainly is somebody I'll be looking out for in the future, if this first effort is anything to go by. _Red Hill_ is imaginative, clever, bold, no-nonsense and entirely watchable film that I'm more than happy to have in my collection. I wasn't blown away, it was no fresh new thing I'd never see coming, but Bisley's screen presence and the general non-stop awesomeness makes _Red Hill_ it one of the better productions we Australians have unleashed onto the world.
76%
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★ 6 / 10
Acceptable Australian western
Leofwine_draca
RED HILL is a pretty decent Australian movie that will win no awards for originality but which tells its story in a straightforward and effective manner. I…
RED HILL is a pretty decent Australian movie that will win no awards for originality but which tells its story in a straightforward and effective manner. I have to say that I do enjoy watching these Aussie outings as they're a breath of fresh air in comparison to more traditional Hollywood fare.
Fresh-faced Ryan Kwanten stars as a rookie cop posted to a rural town (yeah, how many times have we gone through that set-up before?) who soon finds himself having a very bad day when a criminal busts out of jail and comes gunning for revenge. The bad guy is a little better characterised than most, and I enjoyed the way that the lines between good and bad are increasingly blurred as the narrative goes on.
The main problem RED HILL has to face is its own predictability. The narrative is lean and spare, and it's all very familiar; we've seen such stories play out over and over again. Thus it must rely on style to win out over the less than sparkling substance, and it's only partially successful. The direction, acting and camera-work are all solid rather than spectacular. The film held me, but there's nothing much to remember about it afterwards.
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Thanks Freeman excellent movie