Reviews

If there was any hint that Taika Waititi was on a road to greatness, this movie is it.

I saw this flick years ago and enjoyed it immensely. I watched it again this week and was mind-blown by the detail that filled every frame.

This movie captures what it is to be Kiwi, to grow up in New Zealand and manage odd family dynamics. Oh, it's also about being awkward - and you'd be lying if you said you have not experienced that.

Beside all that, this movie captures a time in New Zealand - from the Kiss grafitti in the bus stop to the Let's Dance moment. Moments only a Kiwi would recognise and know.

Although these little nuances may be missed by audiences outside of New Zealand, the themes of school yard and work place bullying will not.

In the end, it's a about love conquering in the end coupled with many laughs albeit it many awkward chuckles sometimes... but isn't new love a little uncomfortable?

Nice seeing Taika sprinkle his image through this movie. What a talent he is.

End the end, this is a rare moment to see the work of a star on the rise, and someone who has done so by placing Kiwi idiosynisties on the world stage with great success.

Feels a bit awkward to say, but he's kind of awesome and his work weirdly makes you feel proud to be Kiwi. Maybe. That's probably too much. Is it too much? Yeah, it probably is.

Gonna sign off.

Just watch the movie. It's pretty good.

I set about this movie because there was nothing better to do, and after around 70 minutes I woke up to the fact I was better doing just about anything else than following this insipid tale to it's end. OK it was an obvious cheese fest, but this is a film I couldn't watch to maturity. It was unbearable watching the main character struggle with the 'I am upsetting my dad' story. How can a woman be so pathetic, and a total contradiction at the same time? Here she is, bending to the will of her dad, but so treating the man she has married with complete disrespect. Go figure. But, then they are Chinese... so that's OK. Forgive my Kiwiness. And that's where the story really starts to grate. The tale had no depth in terms of a story of two cultures divided. I suppose it was trying to win our charms on the 'cute' front. And it failed there. This story was so racist in the way it undermined all things Kiwi. I and everyone I should hope to meet love that Aotearoa is a melting pot of many cultures. However, I shudder that we should be at a stage where being held up as a Kiwi is of lesser value in the land we are raised. We learned about how to be Chinese, but not that living in New Zealand means adopting all that is wonderful about being Kiwi. And there's much to celebrate about that. I would like our film-makers to not make light of our new cultural identity, and to realize at last that it is our Kiwiness that is the forefront of all that our combined cultures are now blending into. Tall poppy syndrome? Let's drop it finally, aye? And accept ownership of what is actually a great identity, albeit it one swamped by a world few of us can now afford! In summary, yeah-Na.