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User Reviews for: Australia

ColdStream96
CONTAINS SPOILERS5/10  3 years ago
**THE UGLY: ‘AUSTRALIA’**

WRITING: 45
ACTING: 85
LOOK: 65
SOUND: 50
FEEL: 60
NOVELTY: 20
ENJOYMENT: 50
RE-WATCHABILITY: 45
INTRIGUE: 40
EXPECTATIONS: 45

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**The Good:**

Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman are charismatic leads sharing admirable chemistry and naturally developing their relationship throughout the film.

The vast Australian landscapes and the historical setting are brought to life by meticulous cinematography and production design.

The kid is adorable and feels natural with the adults.

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**The Bad:**

Gosh, the editing makes this film unbelievably busy, especially during the intro. New characters are introduced in quick succession and we cut back and forth between scenes faster than we can keep up. I'm exhausted before ten minutes have passed.

Some clunky directing choices make me believe this fil wad completed in a rush.

The plot is straightforward, predictable and not layered enough to justify a runtime of 160 minutes.

Some visually intense sequences just don’t look very good. The CGI is painstakingly superficial in places, but the practical effects look fine.

This film could have worked better, had it focused solely on the plot from the first half and dropped the second story that makes up the second half of the film. They just had to stuff that mini Pearl Harbour story into the runtime as well melodramatic in the final act.

I hate films with multiple false endings that make you think it'd all over. This one has at least two.

For being a historical epic, this film is surprisingly empty emotionally. They bring said, it turns almost too

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**The Ugly:**

Damn, this film features the song Over the Rainbow more than The Wizard of Oz does.

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**VERDICT**

_While epic in scope and featuring a fine leading couple, Australia ultimately struggles with an empty plot and an overlong runtime._

**51% = :heavy_minus_sign: = UGLY**
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John Chard
/10  4 years ago
King George angry at them white fellas. King George say them white fella bad spirit. Must be taken from this land.

Australia is directed by Baz Luhrmann and Luhrmann co-writes the screenplay with Stuart Beattie, Ronald Harwood, and Richard Flanagan. It stars Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman, David Wenham, Bryan Brown and Brandon Walters.

It took a bit of a kicking from the pro critics upon release, where the consensus is that at a cost of $130 million this intended sprawling epic is an ambitious flop. For the record at the box office it practically made double its outlay, so certainly wasn't a financial flop.

It's a mixed bag for sure, a film of two differing halves. First half sends Kidman's English aristocrat to Northern Australia after she inherits the sprawling Faraway Downs Ranch. Here she finds herself in the middle of a dirty take over plot and reluctantly makes a working pact with Jackman's stock-man Drover. Seeds are sewn here for a bit of a screwball relationship, all while a cattle feud brews and the Aborigines at the ranch - particularly young Nulllah (Walters) - are in fear of racial tension. Pic then flip-flops into a love story, a war story (as the Japanese attack Darwin) and the bile strewn historical strand that features the "stolen generations" of half-white/half-Aboriginal children.

With all this going on, as Lurhman nods to classic epics from classic era past, the vistas are stunning and the hard work of cattle ranching is given genuine credence (helps having the rugged Jackman leading the way). Set pieces are exciting, the Japanese aerial attacks realistic for dramatic worth, while the chemistry between the leads, a worthy child performance from Walters and a quality weasel villain turn from Wenham ensure performances don't harm the pic in that department. There's even the likes of Ben Mendelsohn and John Jarratt in secondary support slots.

It isn't all it can be, and tonally it feels like there might have been some behind the scenes interference (three co-writers probably didn't help). Yet there are some genuine moments of fun and beauty here, mixed with some heart string tugs and reflection of an historical time that should never ne forgotten. Luhrman reached for "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and didn't quite make it, but it's honourable and has some damn fine craft for entertainment purpose. 7/10
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