Movie review storm boy movie#

вЂњSometimes you forget the best thing you ever learned.вЂќ There are real birds in these scenes, and the movie, slight as it is, is richer for it.ДЇor old men remembering the magic of childhood and filmmakers caught up in the cinemaвЂ™s digital revolution, that right there is the lesson in вЂњStorm Boy.вЂќ ThereвЂ™s a warmth to these DIY, making it up as they go scenes - Dad donating a scarf to keep them warm, Mike, whom Fingerbone gives the Aboriginal name вЂњStorm Boy,вЂќ improvising a fish guts food processor with an outboard motor.ДЄnd thereвЂ™s a single line that has more heart in it than the entire screenplay of вЂњDumboвЂќ manages, a little boyвЂ™s whispered вЂњ please donвЂ™t dieвЂќ to a living thing (three of them) he has in his care.ДЄustralians reviewing this seem to have a little of that вЂњdoesnвЂ™t measure up to the original filmвЂќ thing going, and as I have been beating up on вЂњDumboвЂќ this AM, I feel their pain.Д«ut as someone who hasnвЂ™t seen the 1976 вЂњStorm Boy,вЂќ I can endorse this movieвЂ™s occasional flash of emotion, the clever if slightly sterile way the past and present (RushвЂ™s character revisiting his tweenage self) are blended and the Big Action Payoff, which is both far-fetched and analog tactile. For thousands of years, just black fellas.вЂќДЄfter a bit of pre-integration wariness between Dad and Fingerbone, the men pitch in to help save the pelicans. вЂњWhen a pelican is killed, thereвЂ™ll always be a storm.вЂќ As he and the boy debate caring for the chicks, he delivers a shorthand history lesson about this land. The aboriginal man Fingerbone ( Trevor Jamieson of вЂњRabbit-Proof FenceвЂќ) figures theyвЂ™re goners. After one such massacre, Mike finds three orphaned chicks. Not the beer-swilling jerks who wander in and shoot up the place from time to time, thatвЂ™s for sure. But thereвЂ™s a tug of war over this remote piece of land, a local battle between hunters and those who want to declare the place вЂњa sanctuaryвЂ¦вЂќ his father tells Mike. ItвЂ™s the 1950s, and MikeвЂ™s life is wading in the shallows and wandering among the placid flocks of white pelicans. There was a tragedy that turned Dad into a hermit-like waterman, home-schooling his son, raising him on fish and whatever else he could scrounge up. ThatвЂ™s where young Mike (Finn Little) and his father, whom the locals nicknamed вЂњHideaway TomвЂќ (Courtney) moved. It was called вЂњNinety Mile BeachвЂќ outside of Adelaide. LetвЂ™s take a walk on the beach and remember вЂњthe beach I grew up on.вЂќ So let Maddie be late for school and the board meeting can wait. A storm and a taste of candy from his childhood put him in mind of a flashback. ItвЂ™s up to grandpa to smooth troubled waters. SheвЂ™s gone into вЂњI HATE himвЂќ mode over the whole cynical вЂњruin the waterways and destroy their original homelandsвЂќ debacle.

Son Malcolm ( Erik Thomson) has upset his teen daughter ( Morgana Davies) with this decision. Rush plays a retired tycoon who has been summoned home to help his son see to a transfer of traditional farm (natural) land into hands that will develop it.

Movie review storm boy movie#

When youвЂ™re making a movie about children and animals, вЂњFly Away HomeвЂќ is your template, not вЂњJurassic World.вЂќ вЂњDumboвЂќ director Tim Burton learned that the hard way. The actors seem as tickled by these birds as weвЂ™re meant to be. As we watch Finn Little and Jai Courtney (playing his father, and playing him well) interact with naked, featherless chicks and adult white pelicans, the difference between what digital critters donвЂ™t give you and the surprise and delight real ones do is a pleasant shock to the system. It was jarring seeing вЂњStorm BoyвЂќ on the morning after sitting through DisneyвЂ™s live-action (CGI assisted) вЂњDumboвЂќ remake. ItвЂ™s not a thrill-a-minute piece of childrenвЂ™s entertainment, but winning performances by young Finn Little, by Oscar winner Geoffrey Rush as the adult вЂњboy,вЂќ and by Trevor Jamieson and Morgana Davies, lift it.ДЄs do the birds. The new film is structured as a long flashback, a story remembered by the old man who lived it, its lessons worth passing on to a new generation. A beloved Australian tale about a boy, his pelican and preserving and respecting nature earns a sympathetic new telling in вЂњStorm Boy,вЂќ which could be called a remake, a reboot and a sequel all at once.Д¬olin ThieleвЂ™s novel was most famously filmed in 1976, but has turned up in animated form as well.