Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016)

I wanted to explore the rest of Taika Waititi's filmography after loving everything he did on Thor: Ragnarok and decided to watch this one with my mom. (**THOR: RAGNAROK SPOILER**: Sam Neill who plays Hector, actually has a cameo in a play about Loki and portrays the actor who play's Odin) This film was so quirky with the concept of Ricky Baker, a troubled teen who is in the New Zealand foster care system sent to live with couple Bella and Hector, who live in the vast New Zealand bush. Ricky Baker had never felt comfortable in his previous foster homes, and warms up to Bella and Hector, whom he dubs his "Aunt" and "Uncle." Bella treats him with such love and kindness and even gifts him with a dog for his birthday that he names Tupac after the rapper of the same name. Suddenly as Ricky begins to truly enjoy living with Bella and Hector, Bella passes away. Taika Waititi makes a very memorable and hilarious cameo as a priest at Bella's funeral. Ricky is informed that social services will be coming to pick him up and take him to a new foster care home, since it was Bella's idea to take Ricky in and not Hector's. Knowing this, Ricky decides to run away into the bush with Tupac and fakes his own death. This is discovered by the scene stealing Rachel House as Paula Hall, Ricky's social worker and she and the police, as well as Hector make their own searches for Ricky. Ricky and Hector end up finding each other and sticking together for several months on the run from Paula and the police. Several run-ins with zany characters including the approximately named Psycho Sam and several hunters all end in a police chase that leads to Hector getting arrested for allegedly kidnapping Ricky based on misinterpreted statements Ricky told the hunters that Hector was making him do things he didn't want to do. Ricky eventually reunites with Hector after a while and upholds his promise of teaching Hector how to read. Overall, this was another zany, brilliant story from Taika Waititi that is well-paced, well-shot, and isn't overly filled with deliberate jokes and humor like Thor: Ragnarok; as the humor mainly comes from how the story plays out and doesn't need to be relied on by a comic-relief character. Although, Rachel House and Rhys Darby who plays Psycho Sam are very humorous and can be seen as comic relief, they just let the jokes flow naturally and don't feel forced to tell them.

Wow. The most fun I've had watching a movie. The jokes never miss, and are absolutely hilarious. It even hits you in the feels on two seperate occasions. The cinematography is wonderul, the visuals of the new zealand forest is stunning aswell. For the love of god, see this movie!!

From New Zealand's best director, Waititi ('Eagle Vs Shark', 'Boy', 'What We Do in the Shadows'), comes 'Hunt for the Wilderpeople', which is a title that doesn't make much sense, but when explained with kid logic, it does - "Wildebeest walk thousands of miles. Feels like we've walked that may too. That must make us Wilderpeople!" Simple premise - Ricky (Dennison) is an orphan adopted by Bella (Te Wiata) and Hector (Neill), but when Bella dies unexpectedly, Child Services want to put Ricky back in 'juvie', so he runs away into the bush, where Hector has to protect him.There's so many things to like about this film - the score is great, the little chapter subtitles keep the pace moving, the visuals are stunning (or "majestical"), being filmed on New Zealand's north island, there's plenty of great jokes/quips and, most importantly, there's lots of heart. There's some nice sentimental moments and some sad ones, handled equally as well as the comedy. The bond formed by Hector and Ricky isn't forced or fake - it happens naturally and you become really attached to the characters, since it's mostly the two of them throughout.But there's still some time for some good support cast - Paula (House) as the 'Terminator'-like Child Services Officer hunting them down, Waititi himself as the priest and "Psycho" Sam (Darby). Probably my only criticism is that the film needed more Rhys Darby! It's great to see Neill understated and slowly shed his shell, but the film belongs to Dennison - chirpy, optimistic in spite of his ordeals and genuinely funny.

I honestly did not want this story to end. This is one of the most enjoyable movies I have ever seen. Original, entertaining and deeply heartfelt--prepare for a sucker punch in the feels! Taika's masterful work just gets better with every film. Shout out to every actor in this movie for doing a flawless job.