Merrick here...


Mallrat sent in this look at Baz Luhrmann's AUSTRALIA, to follow-up on/in response to a review we posted earlier today (HERE). You can find trailer for the film, in various forms of Glorious QuickTime, HERE.

Here's Mallrat...

BEWARE HEAVY SPOILERS!!!

I was also in attendance to the screening of Australia and I am in agreement with the first review, to some extent. It was a truly epic film and is going to be beautiful once it is all buttoned up. However, it is worth mentioning that this movie needs a lot of attention/TLC. This is not due to the unfinished visual effects or temporary soundtrack, but more of the flow or rhythm of the movie. The run time was a shade over three hours – which in some cases is fine. However in this case there was a solid 45min, if not a whole hour that could have easily been shaved off.

The previous review touched on this a bit, but honesty – the first hour or so of the flick all led up to this cattle drive and everything we knew hinged on this. The drive was successful, everything was all squared away, and there were about 5 or 6 scenes showing the Drover heading out for more cattle drives and returning home to Lady Ashley – ect ect. I was shuffling around in my seat ready to start my survey, and then a few more scenes - The little boy leaves to go with his real grandfather on his “Walkabout”, The Drover leaves Lady Ashley (her world falls apart at least 5 times in this flick), and eventually the local authorities catch up and arrest the boys grandfather (who is accused of murdering Lady Ashley’s husband), and sends the boy (Nulla, I believe his name is) out to Mission Island. And then the camera pans out into the clouds and everyone once again was thinking “Holy shit, that is a fucked up ending, but an ending none the less” Honestly at this point if felt as though this movie ended and now a whole new movie has started.

We end up switching gears and Japanese bombers come in and tear up Mission Island and main harbor city (can’t remember the name). You are strongly led to believe that Lady Ashley is dead, and you kinda figure Nulla will survive. However, The Drover comes back to find everyone and learns of Lady Ashley’s supposed death and the fate of Mission Island. He and his right hand man, along with the drunkin bartender (who is hilarious at times) lead a rescue mission to Mission Island – which turns out to be a fantastic sequence in which I look forward to seeing again. He rescues the boy (and a handful of other Aborigine children) and heads back to the main land in a hurry (as they found out shortly after getting to the island that it was in the process of being occupied by Japanese land forces) Lady Ashley is there waiting for them and yada yada yada. Then David Wenham’s character (Fletcher) decides he is going to fuck up the movie and draws down on the boy. In a few flashy sequences the grandfather of the boy spears Fletcher, Fletcher shoots The Drover (who dives in for th e save, if you will) and Nulla / Lady Ashley collapse on The Drover. The Drover dies and long story short Nulla leaves with his grandfather in the end of the flick. Lady Ashley is once again alone.

Now, we were told before the movie that we were going to see a “romantic, action filled epic”. I saw an “action filled tragedy”. And if they can tastefully tie this movie up into a solid story, with a nice pace – Baz will have a winner here. And there is no reason to kill off Wolvie in this one - come on.

One other beef with the cut we saw – There were way too many references to the Wizard of Oz in this thing and if I have to hear the song “Somewhere over the Rainbow” again, I may claw out my eyes. A few hints here would have been fine. But - ok, we fucking get it – Lady Ashley is the “Rainbow” that will save the Aborigine’s and “Oz” is slang for Australia. Now I am all about symbolism in movies and what not, but there is no reason to continuously beat us over the head with this one. I was even cool with the ruby red slippers amidst the rubble after the bombing, but hearing that song hummed/sung throughout the movie was damn near intolerable.

Call me Mallrat if you decide to throw this up.