Slow West (2015)

Slow West stars Kodi Smith-McPhee and Michael Fassbender and its the story of Jay, and how he tries to reunite with his loved one Rose, and Silas tags along his journey. Slow West is a very unique and weird film, but it is pretty great. The acting was pretty great, the characters are well written and they are pretty memorable. The cinematography was fantastic and it gave a lot of style to the film. The action sequences, although there is only a few, are well filmed and this is where the direction really shines. The director knows what to show and what not to show, and what shows is stellar. The score it pretty great and it complements the film excellently. The script is pretty good although it could be better. In the beginning there is some exposition and the ending is not believable. I honestly don't like the ending since it is very simple and very unrealistic. It leaves you hanging by a thread and it does not resolve things. The score it pretty great and it complements the film very excellently. The major themes throughout the film is well handled and it does not come off as heavy handed nor forced. The themes gave it a lot of substance to the film. This is probably one of the best modern westerns out there and I strongly advice you to see this one since it is that good. 8/10

I do like a good western and this film has some decent actors so I thought I would give it a shot but boy this film is really bad. The premise of the film sees a young man looking for a girl with the help of a mysterious bounty hunter. Kodi- smit mcphee plays our main hero in this film and he is just very bland and dull. I get it that we are meant to feel sorry for him but I never cared about him at all throughout this entire film. Michael fassbender is one of the best actors in Hollywood and he is totally the best part of this film. He is a pretty cool bounty hunter but even he isn't given much to work with in this film. Ben mendelsohn is in this film and he does an okay job in the film even though he feels really unnecessary in this film. Everybody in this film has absolutely no development and it hurts the film so much as you don't care about anybody. The story is so dull and has no uniqueness to it, it movies really slowly and actually makes no sense. The film is just so slow and has no depth to it's plot or characters and actually becomes a bit confusing to follow. The script has no unique drama or humour in it that doesn't help make any of these characters interesting. The style of the film is very bland and It just doesn't get you excited at all. Overall I really hated this movie and if you are a fan of westerns then you should avoid this film at all cost.

Slow West is written and directed by John Maclean. It stars Kodi Smit-McPhee, Michael Fassbender, Ben Mendelsohn, Caren Pistorius and Rory McCann. Music is by Jed Kurzel and cinematography by Robbie Ryan.It's the late 1800s and a teenage Scottish aristocrat travels to the American West to track down the girl he loves with all his heart...There has been a number of modern day directors who have not only refused to let the Western genre die, but also to not be afraid to take it to a harshness of the West level. They have chosen to strip it back to a sense of realism, with no frills and bunting, just a show of tough times populated by tough people and people tough out of luck. Slow West is one such Oater.For his first full length feature, John Maclean has chosen to make a genre of film he clearly knows something about. It's got some familiar tropes - greenhorn, grizzled bounty hunter, deadly gang et al, but Maclean has still made a fresh picture, one that not only intrigues and excites, but also humours by way of some black comedy inserts.Essentially it's a travelogue piece, McPhee's lovelorn Jay Cavendish ends up being escorted on his journey by Fassbender's mysterious tough guy Silas Selleck. It's an odd yet engaging pairing, and as they are pursued by Selleck's old gang, and they come across a number of eccentric or devious characters, you may find yourself hoping that all the hidden agendas - the secrets bubbling away in the background - do not shatter the surrogate relationship neither was looking for.His heart was in the wrong place.Ah, but yes! Maclean shows gumption to go all mud and blood on our butts, building everything to a quite terrific final quarter of film that has rode in on a black stallion straight from noirville. No printing the legend here, it's a bitter commentary on the romanticised view of the Old West. Western fans keen of ear will pick up on some historically spiky dialogue exchanges, whilst also noting the nods towards the immigration angles, where Maclean doesn't pull punches as to how desperate the Old West was for many of those who travelled hoping for a better life.Predominantly filmed in New Zealand (superbly standing in for the American West), the panoramic cinematography is stunning, while it's great to see the backdrops are not just mountainous desert scapes, this journey goes through forestry as well. Cast are on prime form, Fassbender seems to be a given these days and it's hoped he will do a Western again, and McPhee plays off of him with genuine conviction. Then there's Mendelsohn, who has to be one of the finest Australian character actors working today, he's perfectly cast here, so his fans know exactly what they will be getting.The poster art is hugely frustrating, showing Caren Pistorius with a big beaming smile on her face, that is very much a bum steer. You would be wise to take more note of the faces of Messrs McPhee, Fassbender and Mendelsohn on that poster, for their facial portraits are more in keeping with this cracker-jack Western. 9/10

There are way too much good ratings for this movie. It's really not that special at all. If I give it a six star rating it's because of the filming. The way of filming is very good. Nothing bad to say about that. But the story is just not good enough to get such a high rating. It's very slow and sometimes with very dumb passages. The cast is not bad, far from, but it's nothing exceptional either. I can get that people like the movie for the way it is filmed but to me the story is primordial in a movie. And Slow West is just an average western. It's not the worse one I saw but certainly not one I will remember. Too bad the story was not better.