The Dead Lands (2015)

The Worst Film Ever

Absolutely brilliant

There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Hongi is the young smallish son of Maori chief Tane. They receive a party led by Wirepa, son of the chief of the neighboring tribe. Tane hopes to make peace but Wirepa desecrates the dead and blames it on Hongi. Wirepa uses it as an excuse to attack during the night and massacre the tribe. Tane curses Wirepa as Hongi survives after getting thrown down a hill. Wirepa decides to lead his men through the Dead Lands where a spirit supposedly eats trespassers. Hongi follows them looking to kill Wirepa for revenge. He recruits the spirit to hunt down Wirepa and his men.There isn't much to the story other than a simple revenge. There isn't anything new other than some good Maori fight action. The acting is perfectly natural. The characters are simple. There is a supernatural side to the story but it's not really elevated. It may be more compelling to make this more of a fable and increase the sense of the supernatural spirits. This is a little too basic.

This movie kept me interested all the way to the end despite the subtitles. The language used by the tribes in the movie added to the action and culture they expose you to. This was different and intriguing and I nearly felt I was seeing a piece of these tribes and their ways from hundreds of years ago. The action keeps you going throughout the movie and seeing these cultures in action keeps you in awe. Everything from the the battle scenes, language, scenery, and even the facial expressions captures these ancient people well. I'm the type of person who has to be captured to watch a movie to the end and this one did it. This movie is about ancient cannibal Indian tribes in New Zealand.

Sometimes "last of ..." is not that accurate, especially if you have two who can be called that. For different reasons of course. And while the main story is pretty straight forward (and you can see where it's going) there are some gems here and there. The action scenes are pretty well executed. My Maori is not up to the task, but the acting seems more than decent too.Talking about tasks, the question is is our main hero up to it? Being put in a situation, no one wants to be in, but sometimes you are forced to be in, is more than difficult. On the other hand, you have his mentor, who has some issues of his own. The dynamic works well, though you have to be open minded with what it means to be them or live in that sort of environment - if you can't get down with that, it can be dreadful to watch

Seen at the 2014 London Film Festival, 'The Dead Lands' is pretty much your basic revenge flick, but as it is set in New Zealand before colonisation and is made entirely in the Māori language, it carries mucho filmsnob brownie points! Unimpressive young warrior prince Hongi is the scapegoat chosen by Wirepa, prince of an opposing tribe, to provide the excuse he needs to restart war between the two peoples. Wirepa subsequently leads his forces in a night-time attack against Hongi's tribe. As the sole male survivor, Hongi feels duty-bound (or should that be testosterone-bound?) to avenge his dead kinsmen and sets off after Wirepa's forces, who are beating a retreat through the quasi-mystical 'Dead Lands', an area that is home to a feared warrior who is also the last surviving member of his tribe.Like many basic revenge flicks, this film has plot holes a-plenty: for instance, Hongi's metamorphosis from hopeless fighter to someone able to defeat several fighters at once is rather sudden; and from where did that well-made hut in which he nurses the injured warrior back to health suddenly appear - it wasn't there before the big fight! All the pre-battle tongue-waggling proved difficult for this white European reviewer to take seriously, although obviously it is of great cultural significance to Māoris themselves (not to mention the All Blacks rugby team). Budget constraints may have meant the producers couldn't hire many actors; Hongi's entire tribe seems to number no more than six or seven people. For much of the film Wirepa is seen with even fewer soldiers on his side, until one shot suddenly shows about twenty of them - up until then Hongi and the warrior's quest didn't seem as hopeless (or unbelievable) as it actually is. But there is a certain comfort in watching a film that reliably goes from A to B; and the battle scenes are balletically-staged (although I could have done with fewer of them being shot in the dark).As for the acting, barring once or twice where he sticks out his tongue, James Rolleston as Hongi spends most of the film peering sulkily from between the curtains of his carefully-arranged hair like a boybander shooting the video of his next hit single. The well-muscled, statuesque Te Kohe Tuhaka makes a cruel - if at times camp - villain as Wirepa. Top acting honours go to Lawrence Makoare as the warrior - he's got the looks and build that suggest he usually plays brainless heavies (he's been in the 'Lord of the Rings' films but I haven't seen those), but in this he nicely conveys the warrior's rage, bewilderment and redemption, using humour when required but crucially knowing when to rein it back in.Also worth a mention is the music - whoever is responsible (I can't find his name on the official site or IMDb) has avoided the trap of thinking "Maori film so it's got to be tribal music" and instead gone for a varied score with elements of classical and electronic that is most pleasing - the last time I really noticed a film's music was 'The End of the Affair', so it says something that I noticed it here! But the biggest attraction of all is perhaps the New Zealand scenery, with every tree, bush and blade of grass vying for attention.