My Movie Review on The Hunter (2011)

Happy Earth Day, my friends.

This is your top-of-the-line entertainment media reporter here with another critique.

Today, for my first of two reviews to celebrate this holiday with, I'm gonna give you guys my analysis of "The Hunter". The 2011 film based on Julia Leigh's book of the same name, to be exact.

Here's the rundown of it:

Mercenary Martin David is hired by a military biotech company for what may be his most challenging job yet: To hunt down a Thylacine, AKA the Tasmanian Tiger. Posing as a university biologist, Martin must traverse the Tasmanian wilderness to find the apparently still-living species & acquire samples of it.

During his endeavor, Martin lodges at the home of the Armstrong family. The family in question consists of a mother, Lucy, and her two children, Katie & Jamie.

I'm not gonna lie, I was interested in reviewing "The Hunter" for a very long time. When I first watched the movie a few years ago, I was inspired to give my own critique of it, and I thought that it'd be perfect for analyzing on Earth Day because of its premise & themes. I was also excited to review the film because it starred Willem Dafoe & Same Neill, both of whom are a couple of my favorite actors!

Like many entertainment products, though, I put reviewing "The Hunter" on the backburner because there were other things I wanted to analyze more. But, after my review-pile lessened, I managed to turn my attention towards "The Hunter" and get going on analyzing it. To make the critique, I rewatched the film on the 1st of February, and my brain immediately generated detailed thoughts on it without any feelings of uncertainty afterwards!

So, what do I think of "The Hunter" in words? Especially considering it's the 6th R-rated film I've made a review for?

Well, the main Achilles Heel I pinpointed was that there were some cuss words. On the bright side, "The Hunter" doesn't feature profanity being used on a recurring basis; and aside from one exception at the beginning, words where people say the Lord's name in vain aren't used. However, the movie did showcase characters using strong words in a few scenes, mainly a certain 'F' word that's quite honestly what I classify as one of the worst expletives in history.

In spite of this nitpick, I'm proud to say that "The Hunter" is a marvelous motion picture. And believe me, there are a boatload of reasons for why I think so.

For instance, the direction by Daniel Nettheim, the story by him & Wain Fimeri, and the screenplay by Alice Addison, were spectacularly spot-on.

Admittedly, I've never read the book by Julia Leigh, so I don't have a strong opinion over how faithful this movie is to the source material. Prior to making this review, though, I researched what the book was about & learned what the author's narrative intentions were. Based on what I learned about the book, the filmmakers made the movie's story a perfect balance in creative vision. They made the movie's narrative exactly like Julia Leigh's book, yet they made the plot something of its own by making changes & expansions purely to help translate the concept for the screen. The biggest example is the incorporation of Red Leaf, the organization that hires Martin to find the Tasmanian Tiger. By adding in who Martin was working for, the audience is given more context as to why he was looking for the creature, and it provided other narrative-based benefits for the film as a whole, such as giving background on Lucy Armstrong's missing husband: Jarrah.

As for the film itself, I think Daniel Nettheim and company created a truly thought-provoking motion picture. When it came to Nettheim's directorial work for the movie, I noted that he used a strong "Show-Don't-Tell" kind of style for depicting the story. He limited the dialogue-usage to where characters would only talk if necessary, and he relied purely on cinematography & real-life settings to make the film visually-absorbing. Most thillers also tend to dedicate a great deal of time towards high-octane action sequences and less on other things, but that wasn't the case with "The Hunter". Instead, Nettheim kept the few action-based scenes the movie had relatively-grounded, and he drove them without allowing the violence to get too over-the-top.

Story-wise, Nettheim and his writing team made "The Hunter" an excellent mystery-thriller. Along with the concept clearly being inspired by the real-world mystery regarding the Tasmanian Tiger, Martin's assigned search for the creature provided perfect leeway for transforming the story into something more complex than anticipated. As the film progressed, certain aspects in the story were opened up & explored, and they helped provide hard-hitting revelations regarding Martin's mission. The best part is that the plot kept itself together, proved to be interesting 24/7, and showcased a welcoming unpredictability. Plus, the film's heartfelt, emotional, & dramatic moments were deeply soul-tugging, and hardly anything about their executions felt forced.

The themes and morals were well-done too.

If the premise is any indication, "The Hunter" obviously contains environmental-based subjects. When I did my lookback on the movie, I noted that it was giving a very unique approach in addressing that there are people who will exploit nature for their own selfish ends, with Red Leaf's nefarious agenda for the Tasmanian Tiger being the biggest example. But, the movie also showed that there are people who want to protect nature and ensure that it's cared for, and Jarrah Armstrong was among such individuals. The movie even took these aspects a step further by featuring an ongoing conflict between the local loggers & a group of environmentalists referred to as the "Greenies", with each side disputing over the deforestation of the Tasmanian wilderness & having stances neither side agreed with. The filmmakers clearly wanted the film's environmental themes to be about two sides who have their own ideas on how nature can benefit the world, and Martin was simply caught in the middle while being forced with a choice regarding the Tasmanian Tiger.

Through Martin's character, the film also provided insights that were incredibly personal. It addressed that a life of solitude isn't particularly fulfilling compared to one that includes actually socializing with others, and if you really think about it, shutting yourself away from the world leaves you feeling incomplete as a person.

Along with this, the special effects used for the Tasmanian Tiger were terrific. With "The Hunter" being a purely independent-based movie, Daniel Nettheim & company obviously had to work with a small budget and limited resources to create the creature, and I believe they made excellent use of what they had. The CGI for the Tasmanian Tiger's distance shots made the creature look like it was brought back from extinction, and the animatronics used for the animal's close-ups was so authentic-looking that people wouldn't tell it was a robot. It was definitely clear that the production team was going all-out in doing the Tasmanian Tiger justice, and to that I say "Mission Accomplished!".

The music by Michael Lira, Andrew Lancaster, and Matteo Zingales was magnificent, if I may add.

Whenever music came up in this movie, I noted that the trio created a score that was undeniably enchanting to the ear. I loved that the melodies were closely-tied to the film's tone, and they reflected the emotions & personalities of the characters like a glove! The crescendo they incorporated was an equally nice touch, because it helped the music be all-the-more powerful on a personal level.

Finally, the acting, characters, and character development were fantastic.

Without a doubt, the character who grew the most throughout this motion picture was Martin David. From the beginning, Martin showed himself to be someone who primarily closed himself off from others. He had no interest in making any kind of personal connections, and he completely focused on his work as a mercenary. As he continued hanging out with the Armstrong family, though, Martin discovered the joys of having positive bonds & actually started to willingly open himself up! He also developed a newfound code of honor, and when he began to see the true colors of Red Leaf & their intentions in acquiring the Tasmanian Tiger, he strived to somehow prevent that from happening. To top it all off, Willem Dafoe gave what I'd like to call another winner of a performance. Dafoe did an amazing job translating Martin as a three-dimensional individual. He captured the character's depths, incorporated brilliant personality, and conveyed Martin's emotions with natural gusto, especially to where I can hardly envision any other performer in the part.

In regard to the supporting characters, the main thing I'd like to point out is that most of them didn't have a lot of screen-time & focus compared to Martin. Nevertheless, they each had strong personalities and qualities to help them standout, and the performers playing their respective parts didn't refrain from giving excellent portrayals. Jack Mindy is a definite example, because even though he wasn't around all-the-time, he was still a pretty solid character in his own right. Not to mention Sam Neill was terrific in the role.

Of course, if I were to choose who the film's best supporting characters were, it'd be the Armstrong family. Katie & Jamie, who were sometimes called Sass & Bike, stole the show whenever they were onscreen thanks to their innocence & purity, and they often helped lighten things up without compromising the film's seriousness in tone. Their mother, Lucy, was also a wonderful character. Lucy had a lovable personality, and she frequently developed in ways that viewers likely wouldn't expect. From I've gathered regarding Julia Leigh's book, the Armstrong family were the ones who helped Martin gain a newfound sense of heart, and the filmmakers did a splendid job maintaining that aspect. Plus, the performances of Frances O'Connor as Lucy, Morgan Davies as Katie, and Finn Woodlock as Jamie were stupendous.

In conclusion, "The Hunter" isn't 100% perfect due to the flaw I mentioned at the beginning, but it's still an awesome movie that's worth checking out. The story & direction were top-notch, the acting & characters were solid, everything!

So, I rate "The Hunter 4½ out of 5 stars.