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Darren (1599 KP) rated Jasper Jones (2016) in Movies
Sep 13, 2019
Characters – Charlie Bucktin is the teenager that is in the middle of the mystery about the death of the girl in the town. He befriends the one person everyone thinks it is as he must see the prejudice that the non-locals deal with being in the town. Ruth is Charlie’s mother that is always worrying about Charlie when he keeps breaking the curfew. Eliza is the sister of the dead girl, she becomes friends with Charlie as she needs someone to keep her feeling the right mind set during the wait. Jasper Jones is the outcast of the town who is easily the suspect the town will blame for the murder.
Performances – Levi Miller is good in the leading role, we have seen him in other movies and he has been making a reputation with this type of role. Toni Collette shines as we know she always will, she is such an incredible actress. Angourie Rice after The Nice Guys is an actress we want to see where she went next, here she is good and shows her potential. The rest of the stars are good for what they need to do.
Story – The story follows the mystery surrounding the death of a young woman and the mystery about who was the one responsible. We get secrets which help with the mystery as well as dealing with racial behaviour of the town’s people towards the ones that aren’t Australian. We do touch on other important subjects which come from the ending of the film, so won’t be spoiling them. This feels like a story that should have such a big impact though we don’t get enough time to process each moment to its full effect, this only disappoints because you do need to process large parts of this film.
Mystery – The mystery in this film comes from just wondering who was behind the death of the girl, even though this isn’t the only major talking point in the film as we end up seeing other subjects getting dealt with.
Settings – The small town setting in one that works for the film, it shows you could never know everything about your neighbours and you will need to be friends when things go wrong.
Scene of the Movie – The truth about the body.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – So many serious subjects, not enough time to process.
Final Thoughts – This does feel like a massively powerful movie that just doesn’t give us the time to process all the major talking points within the movie, this needed to be longer or a television show.
Overall: Too much to process at times.
Performances – Levi Miller is good in the leading role, we have seen him in other movies and he has been making a reputation with this type of role. Toni Collette shines as we know she always will, she is such an incredible actress. Angourie Rice after The Nice Guys is an actress we want to see where she went next, here she is good and shows her potential. The rest of the stars are good for what they need to do.
Story – The story follows the mystery surrounding the death of a young woman and the mystery about who was the one responsible. We get secrets which help with the mystery as well as dealing with racial behaviour of the town’s people towards the ones that aren’t Australian. We do touch on other important subjects which come from the ending of the film, so won’t be spoiling them. This feels like a story that should have such a big impact though we don’t get enough time to process each moment to its full effect, this only disappoints because you do need to process large parts of this film.
Mystery – The mystery in this film comes from just wondering who was behind the death of the girl, even though this isn’t the only major talking point in the film as we end up seeing other subjects getting dealt with.
Settings – The small town setting in one that works for the film, it shows you could never know everything about your neighbours and you will need to be friends when things go wrong.
Scene of the Movie – The truth about the body.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – So many serious subjects, not enough time to process.
Final Thoughts – This does feel like a massively powerful movie that just doesn’t give us the time to process all the major talking points within the movie, this needed to be longer or a television show.
Overall: Too much to process at times.
Debbiereadsbook (1421 KP) rated Mathos (The Hawks #3) in Books
Nov 21, 2021
loving this series so hard!
I was gifted my copy of this book, that I write a review was not required.
This is book 3 in The Hawks series, and you really MUST read books one, Tristan, and book 2, Val before this one. There is an on-going story arc across the series, that is not fully recapped. And you, cos I said so! I loved those books, and I loved this one too.
Mathos is a player, calls everyone darlin' and never spends more than one night with a woman. He's happy with his lot. So why then, does Lucilla push all his buttons and make him want things he never knew he wanted? She's a spoilt princess, and he just has to get her to the palace. Lucy, however, does not want to go. Her brother will kill her, and she's suffered enough. Finding out though, that Ballinor is dead and a far darker mind wishes to possess her, mean she has to trust Mathos, and his band of the Hawks.
I loved Mathos in the other books, and here he really does shine. Lucy (as Mathos begins to call her) shines also, but in an entirely different way.
Lucilla has been kept behind closed doors for so long, so she can't remember life before. Suffering at the hands of her brother and his cronies has been her life. She doesn't want to be controlled or coralled anywhere, but Mathos makes a good point. Getting to the palace will secure her future and mean she can make all the choices she wants. But Mathos creeps into her heart, and when he does what he does, you can feel how much Mathos means to her.
Mathos though, feels he does not deserve anyone, let alone a queen. No one can love him, if his own mother can't, surely? Walking away from Lucy and from his brothers was probably the hardest thing he ever did, but also the most stoopidest thing, EVER! But it's WHO that makes him see clearly for the first time in weeks that surprised me! Given as said someone has been missing since the first book, you'll understand why and I really pray that he gets some peace.
He's not next though! Tor is next and given whats said here, I'm intrigued as to what has happened between him and Keeley!
I'm loving this series, I really am! Please keep them coming, I still cannot see the bigger picture and what's going to happen!
5 full and shiny stars
*same worded review will appear elsewhere
This is book 3 in The Hawks series, and you really MUST read books one, Tristan, and book 2, Val before this one. There is an on-going story arc across the series, that is not fully recapped. And you, cos I said so! I loved those books, and I loved this one too.
Mathos is a player, calls everyone darlin' and never spends more than one night with a woman. He's happy with his lot. So why then, does Lucilla push all his buttons and make him want things he never knew he wanted? She's a spoilt princess, and he just has to get her to the palace. Lucy, however, does not want to go. Her brother will kill her, and she's suffered enough. Finding out though, that Ballinor is dead and a far darker mind wishes to possess her, mean she has to trust Mathos, and his band of the Hawks.
I loved Mathos in the other books, and here he really does shine. Lucy (as Mathos begins to call her) shines also, but in an entirely different way.
Lucilla has been kept behind closed doors for so long, so she can't remember life before. Suffering at the hands of her brother and his cronies has been her life. She doesn't want to be controlled or coralled anywhere, but Mathos makes a good point. Getting to the palace will secure her future and mean she can make all the choices she wants. But Mathos creeps into her heart, and when he does what he does, you can feel how much Mathos means to her.
Mathos though, feels he does not deserve anyone, let alone a queen. No one can love him, if his own mother can't, surely? Walking away from Lucy and from his brothers was probably the hardest thing he ever did, but also the most stoopidest thing, EVER! But it's WHO that makes him see clearly for the first time in weeks that surprised me! Given as said someone has been missing since the first book, you'll understand why and I really pray that he gets some peace.
He's not next though! Tor is next and given whats said here, I'm intrigued as to what has happened between him and Keeley!
I'm loving this series, I really am! Please keep them coming, I still cannot see the bigger picture and what's going to happen!
5 full and shiny stars
*same worded review will appear elsewhere
ClareR (5864 KP) rated The Shape of Darkness in Books
Feb 21, 2021
The Shape of Darkness was well worth the wait! I’ve read two of Laura Purcell’s books on The Pigeonhole, so when this book came up on NetGalley, I knew that I had to read it. This has been one of my half term reads, and well worth the wait!
Agnes is a silhouette artist in Victorian Bath, and she struggles to support her sickly mother and her nephew - although his father does contribute some money to help feed and clothe him (and help Agnes and her mother too).
Shortly after one of Agnes’ clients leaves her studio, he is murdered. She then discovers that another client has also been murdered - there is an unnerving pattern forming here, because this is just the start. In order to get some insight, Agnes decides that she should consult a medium. This is where Pearl and her sister Myrtle, a mesmerist-in-training, come in. Pearl is ethereal, a child with albinism, and seems to genuinely possess the gift of communicating with the dead.
This is an unnerving, chilling and at times, quite a scary book. It’s full of the detail of Victorian life too: poverty, class distinctions, the hustle and bustle of a busy Victorian Bath. I loved the dark, gothic feel, too. It contained loads of details of life, of how technology was changing and affecting the lives of Victorians. And it was just a really excellent mystery that kept me guessing to the very end. If you’re going to read it (and I strongly suggest that you do!), just don’t read it with only the little light on if you’re spooked easily!
Many thanks to Raven Books for providing me with an e-book through NetGalley to read and review.
Agnes is a silhouette artist in Victorian Bath, and she struggles to support her sickly mother and her nephew - although his father does contribute some money to help feed and clothe him (and help Agnes and her mother too).
Shortly after one of Agnes’ clients leaves her studio, he is murdered. She then discovers that another client has also been murdered - there is an unnerving pattern forming here, because this is just the start. In order to get some insight, Agnes decides that she should consult a medium. This is where Pearl and her sister Myrtle, a mesmerist-in-training, come in. Pearl is ethereal, a child with albinism, and seems to genuinely possess the gift of communicating with the dead.
This is an unnerving, chilling and at times, quite a scary book. It’s full of the detail of Victorian life too: poverty, class distinctions, the hustle and bustle of a busy Victorian Bath. I loved the dark, gothic feel, too. It contained loads of details of life, of how technology was changing and affecting the lives of Victorians. And it was just a really excellent mystery that kept me guessing to the very end. If you’re going to read it (and I strongly suggest that you do!), just don’t read it with only the little light on if you’re spooked easily!
Many thanks to Raven Books for providing me with an e-book through NetGalley to read and review.
LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated Palo Alto (2014) in Movies
Sep 20, 2020
Flooringly seismic, as someone who was around this exact age in this exact time period - this is the perfect representation of high school in 2012/2013 to a T. I'm always put off by how high school kids in movies from around this time never talk right, and even when its ever so close there's still just that slight amount of "out-of-touch adult writes how they think teens speak" jargon which completely takes me out of it. Not here, the way people talk to each other here is scarily dead-on to how me and my shithead friends used to talk to each other to the comma. The fact that there's no clear-cut good or bad guys, just varying degrees of shitty; those tiny but thick iPod touches that had the messaging apps with the grey background and green messages; weird fake meme-sounding music abound parties with lethal amounts of alcohol... trades in the (still tantalizing in its own way) metaphorical cringe that these movies usually have and finally depicts high schoolers from this time as the snaky, rash, social-status obsessed psychopaths that we were - the type who would sooner ask for mouthwash after they vomited up hours worth of alcohol rather than water. The déjà vu I felt during this was unreal, and beyond that it's the movie equivalent to an opiate - not to mention daring, economical, accurate, and cautiously brisk with tremendous performances across the board (Nat Wolff holy *shit*). What happens when you stick a bunch of emotionally unstable sociopaths who don't like each other (or are at least fooled into thinking they do) into a 5-days-a-week institution and leave them to their own devices in the early 2010s. I fucking *lived* this movie - which may even be the best one directed by a Coppola.
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Kristy H (1252 KP) rated River Road in Books
Feb 8, 2018
Nan Lewis is a creative writing professor at a state school in upstate New York. She lives alone after the tragic death of her young daughter, Emmy--an incident which her marriage could not survive. She's recently been denied tenure by her school and is upset and agitated the university's holiday party. On her way home, she hits a deer, but cannot find the animal when she goes to check on it. Nan eventually makes it back home in a snowstorm, leaving her car at the bottom of her icy, unplowed driveway. But when she wakes in the morning, she learns that one of her prized students, Leia, was killed in a hit-and-run the night before on River Road: the exact road where Nan hit the deer. Because her car was damaged from hitting the deer, Nan is the prime suspect, and she quickly loses the support of her colleagues, who point out that she has become a functioning alcoholic since her daughter's death. Even worse, Nan starts seeing signs that remind her of Emmy's death. Are Emmy and Leia's deaths related? How much did Nan have to drink the night she hit the deer? Will she clear her name before her entire life is destroyed?
I'm honestly not sure why I enjoyed this book as much as I did. It had several things working against it: 1) an unlikable narrator who drinks heavily; 2) a storyline that heavily involved dead children and pets (why?!); and 3) an easily guessed villain. Still, I found this one compulsively readable and stayed up far past my bedtime to finish the second half of the book. Nan grew on me, and I found myself almost protective of her. The lead policeman in the novel, Joe, was a favorite of mine. While I figured out the villain fairly early, I didn't understand the motives, so the plot kept me guessing until the end. Goodman weaves several storylines together--which intersect, but loosely--and somehow they all work. There are several supporting characters, including the woman who killed Nan's daughter and a young single mother from one of Nan's classes, who give the novel a surprising depth.
Anyway, despite some of the craziness, I found myself enjoying the book and racing to finish it. I first fell in love with Goodman due to her novel [b:The Lake of Dead Languages|120274|The Lake of Dead Languages|Carol Goodman|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320554718s/120274.jpg|3159707]. That book was impressive and still sits on my bookshelf to this day. If you haven't read it, I certainly recommend it. However, [b:River Road|25111007|River Road|Carol Goodman|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1454544060s/25111007.jpg|44804735] is a fun thriller and a worthy diversion.
I'm honestly not sure why I enjoyed this book as much as I did. It had several things working against it: 1) an unlikable narrator who drinks heavily; 2) a storyline that heavily involved dead children and pets (why?!); and 3) an easily guessed villain. Still, I found this one compulsively readable and stayed up far past my bedtime to finish the second half of the book. Nan grew on me, and I found myself almost protective of her. The lead policeman in the novel, Joe, was a favorite of mine. While I figured out the villain fairly early, I didn't understand the motives, so the plot kept me guessing until the end. Goodman weaves several storylines together--which intersect, but loosely--and somehow they all work. There are several supporting characters, including the woman who killed Nan's daughter and a young single mother from one of Nan's classes, who give the novel a surprising depth.
Anyway, despite some of the craziness, I found myself enjoying the book and racing to finish it. I first fell in love with Goodman due to her novel [b:The Lake of Dead Languages|120274|The Lake of Dead Languages|Carol Goodman|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320554718s/120274.jpg|3159707]. That book was impressive and still sits on my bookshelf to this day. If you haven't read it, I certainly recommend it. However, [b:River Road|25111007|River Road|Carol Goodman|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1454544060s/25111007.jpg|44804735] is a fun thriller and a worthy diversion.
Hadley (567 KP) rated Heart-Shaped Box in Books
Jun 18, 2019
Unlikable characters (1 more)
Parts that weren't needed
Which one of us hasn't imagined being a successful rock star? The main character of this novel is an aging one, who has become the stereo-typical hard-ass that is expected of a death metal rock star. We begin with Judas Coyne, who hasn't made an album in years, and who is constantly running from his past- - -a habit he acquired when he ran away from home in Louisiana at the age of 19, and this is the problem that permeates Hill's 'Heart-Shaped Box.'
'Heart-Shaped Box' does a successful job of not only painting a picture of ghosts, but also of the spirits that reside in animals (like a witch's familiar), but the likable characters in this book are few and far between. Coyne treats women as objects(he literally only calls them by the State name they are from,such as Florida), and also ended his own marriage by refusing to throw away a snuff film he had obtained from a police. When the story begins, Coyne is shacked up with a young woman (nearly 30 years younger) he calls Georgia; she is described as a stereo-typical goth: black hair, black nail polish, pale white skin. This description of the women Coyne has been with seem to be about the same, but maybe a different hair color, but any other woman that is ever mentioned in the book is either very old or very overweight.
Coyne, a collector of all things dark, buys a dead man's suit that is supposedly haunted by a woman's deceased stepfather. Quite quickly things begin to happen after the suit arrives, including a decaying smell, first noticed by Coyne's 'girlfriend,' Georgia: " I know. I was wondering if there was something in one of the pockets. Something going bad. Old food." She makes Coyne take a look at the suit to see if there is something dead inside of it, but he never finds the source of the smell. Instead, he finds a picture of a young girl in one of the pockets, a girl that is very familiar to Coyne, a girl he once called 'Florida.'
Coyne doesn't seem to take any of the signs seriously that he may be haunted by a ghost that wants to harm him and anyone who comes in contact with him. Until Coyne finds himself sitting inside his restored vintage Mustang in a closed-off barn: " He snorted softly to himself. It wasn't selling souls that got you into trouble, it was buying them. Next time he would have to make sure there was a return policy. He laughed, opened his eyes a little. The dead man, Craddock, sat in the passenger seat next to him. He smiled at Jude, to show stained teeth and a black tongue. He smelled of death, also of car exhaust. His eyes were hidden behind those odd, continuously moving black brushstrokes."
Craddock turns out to be, without giving too much away, a man who was a spiritualist in his living life. He wants nothing but pain and misery for Coyne, who happened to kick his young step daughter to the curb a year before. The parts of the story that deal with both Coyne and Craddock interacting are the most interesting ones. Without these interactions, the story would have fallen very short.
That said, 'Heart-Shaped Box' had quite a few faults to it. Readers may notice that some pages contradict themselves on the very next page, Hill's overuse of Georgia's bangs (hair) as a description for all of her facial expressions, also Hill's habit of being repetitive with words that he uses to describe most things, the unbelievable part where Coyne- - - a collector of occult items- - - claims he has never used a Ouija board before (and lacks the knowledge of how to use one), and last but not least, chapter 34, a chapter that was not needed and completely stopped the story in it's tracks.
And speaking of things that were not needed in the story- - - a part where Georgia has a gun in her mouth, ready to commit suicide, Coyne can only think to remove the gun and replace it with his penis. I understand that Hill may have been going for unlikable characters from the beginning, to really have Coyne play the part of a jaded man, but sometimes Hill seems to go too far. Every book has to have a character to root for, otherwise your readers will put the book down, luckily, this book has Bammy; she is Georgia's grandmother, unfortunately, in less than 15 pages, she never appears in the story again. "You strung out? Christ. You smell like a dog." Bammy says to Georgia after she and Coyne show up at her home.
Is this book a good ghost story, yes, is this story a great horror story, no. Hill lacks on likable characters enough that I don't think a lot of people could enjoy this book. If I were to recommend it, I wouldn't recommend it to teenagers because of a much talked about snuff film, drugs and suicide. I don't think I would read this again.
'Heart-Shaped Box' does a successful job of not only painting a picture of ghosts, but also of the spirits that reside in animals (like a witch's familiar), but the likable characters in this book are few and far between. Coyne treats women as objects(he literally only calls them by the State name they are from,such as Florida), and also ended his own marriage by refusing to throw away a snuff film he had obtained from a police. When the story begins, Coyne is shacked up with a young woman (nearly 30 years younger) he calls Georgia; she is described as a stereo-typical goth: black hair, black nail polish, pale white skin. This description of the women Coyne has been with seem to be about the same, but maybe a different hair color, but any other woman that is ever mentioned in the book is either very old or very overweight.
Coyne, a collector of all things dark, buys a dead man's suit that is supposedly haunted by a woman's deceased stepfather. Quite quickly things begin to happen after the suit arrives, including a decaying smell, first noticed by Coyne's 'girlfriend,' Georgia: " I know. I was wondering if there was something in one of the pockets. Something going bad. Old food." She makes Coyne take a look at the suit to see if there is something dead inside of it, but he never finds the source of the smell. Instead, he finds a picture of a young girl in one of the pockets, a girl that is very familiar to Coyne, a girl he once called 'Florida.'
Coyne doesn't seem to take any of the signs seriously that he may be haunted by a ghost that wants to harm him and anyone who comes in contact with him. Until Coyne finds himself sitting inside his restored vintage Mustang in a closed-off barn: " He snorted softly to himself. It wasn't selling souls that got you into trouble, it was buying them. Next time he would have to make sure there was a return policy. He laughed, opened his eyes a little. The dead man, Craddock, sat in the passenger seat next to him. He smiled at Jude, to show stained teeth and a black tongue. He smelled of death, also of car exhaust. His eyes were hidden behind those odd, continuously moving black brushstrokes."
Craddock turns out to be, without giving too much away, a man who was a spiritualist in his living life. He wants nothing but pain and misery for Coyne, who happened to kick his young step daughter to the curb a year before. The parts of the story that deal with both Coyne and Craddock interacting are the most interesting ones. Without these interactions, the story would have fallen very short.
That said, 'Heart-Shaped Box' had quite a few faults to it. Readers may notice that some pages contradict themselves on the very next page, Hill's overuse of Georgia's bangs (hair) as a description for all of her facial expressions, also Hill's habit of being repetitive with words that he uses to describe most things, the unbelievable part where Coyne- - - a collector of occult items- - - claims he has never used a Ouija board before (and lacks the knowledge of how to use one), and last but not least, chapter 34, a chapter that was not needed and completely stopped the story in it's tracks.
And speaking of things that were not needed in the story- - - a part where Georgia has a gun in her mouth, ready to commit suicide, Coyne can only think to remove the gun and replace it with his penis. I understand that Hill may have been going for unlikable characters from the beginning, to really have Coyne play the part of a jaded man, but sometimes Hill seems to go too far. Every book has to have a character to root for, otherwise your readers will put the book down, luckily, this book has Bammy; she is Georgia's grandmother, unfortunately, in less than 15 pages, she never appears in the story again. "You strung out? Christ. You smell like a dog." Bammy says to Georgia after she and Coyne show up at her home.
Is this book a good ghost story, yes, is this story a great horror story, no. Hill lacks on likable characters enough that I don't think a lot of people could enjoy this book. If I were to recommend it, I wouldn't recommend it to teenagers because of a much talked about snuff film, drugs and suicide. I don't think I would read this again.
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Alpha (2018) in Movies
Jul 2, 2019
Columbia Pictures new release Alpha stars Kodi Smit-McPhee as Keda, and
Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson) as Tau, his father.
Tau is the tribe leader, and must determine whether the young male tribe
members are ready for the annual hunt. He tests all the spear points
crafted by the boys, and passes or fails them based on the craftsmanship
of the arrowheads.
Keda is one of the only two young men that pass the test, and in spite
of his mothers (and his own) reservations, joins the hunt.
Keda isn’t a strong figure, like his father Tau, and the movie shows
some of the tension and strife this causes the father and son. Tau is
trying to teach Keda to be a leader, and Keda seems too soft-hearted to
be able to bear the task. Keda has a hard time with the killing of
animals, even though it is needed to sustain the tribe.
The annual hunt consists of tracking down a herd of bison over a span of
days, and then creeping up on them on their grazing grounds and spooking
them into headlong flight over the edge of a high cliff. The hunters
must keep the herd from turning back to the open plain by throwing their
spears and running full-tilt at the bison. The run to push the bison
over the cliffs edge starts off well, and then takes a tragic turn when
one of the bison turns towards the hunters and charges at Keda. Kedas
confidence breaks and he turns tail to run, with the bison chasing him
down. When the bison lowers his head to charge at Keda, the bisons horn
catches in Kedas clothing and the bison turns towards the cliff face and
dump Keda over the edge.
Keda miraculously lands on a rock outcropping about half way down the
cliff face, but it is still too far for Tau to reach him. Keda is
unconscious, and does not respond to his fathers calls.
Tau is convinced that he must leave his son for dead and head towards
home in order to be able to provide for the tribe.
A day later, Keda wakes and finds himself alone, with broken bones, and
no way to get off the cliff face.
What follows is a story of coming of age and determination. Keda must
find his way off the cliff face, and using the tools given to him by his
father on the way to the bison hunting grounds, find his way home. He
finds unlikely companionship in a wolf that he injured while the wolf
pack was hunting him down to try to eat him, which he nurses back to
health. He names the wolf “Alpha”, but in truth, it is Keda who is
learning to become the alpha, or leader of the pack.
The scenery in the movie is breathtaking, and the movie really comes to
life with the 3D option. I can only imagine that it would be even better
in IMAX.
There were pieces of the film that were entirely un-realistic, but they
were rather quickly covered up by the fast-paced nature of the film.
The only part I really groaned at was the very end scene, but I will let
you draw your own conclusions on that so that I don’t ruin it for you!
My son just turned 10 and he liked it a lot, but did mention that a few
parts were not 100% “kid-friendly” due to the scare-factor. He was
specifically referring to one scene that made us both literally jump in
our seats. He said over all the movie was great and that he enjoyed it
immensely.
I would give this movie 3.5 out of 5 stars, and recommend that you see
it in IMAX 3D if you are able!
Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson) as Tau, his father.
Tau is the tribe leader, and must determine whether the young male tribe
members are ready for the annual hunt. He tests all the spear points
crafted by the boys, and passes or fails them based on the craftsmanship
of the arrowheads.
Keda is one of the only two young men that pass the test, and in spite
of his mothers (and his own) reservations, joins the hunt.
Keda isn’t a strong figure, like his father Tau, and the movie shows
some of the tension and strife this causes the father and son. Tau is
trying to teach Keda to be a leader, and Keda seems too soft-hearted to
be able to bear the task. Keda has a hard time with the killing of
animals, even though it is needed to sustain the tribe.
The annual hunt consists of tracking down a herd of bison over a span of
days, and then creeping up on them on their grazing grounds and spooking
them into headlong flight over the edge of a high cliff. The hunters
must keep the herd from turning back to the open plain by throwing their
spears and running full-tilt at the bison. The run to push the bison
over the cliffs edge starts off well, and then takes a tragic turn when
one of the bison turns towards the hunters and charges at Keda. Kedas
confidence breaks and he turns tail to run, with the bison chasing him
down. When the bison lowers his head to charge at Keda, the bisons horn
catches in Kedas clothing and the bison turns towards the cliff face and
dump Keda over the edge.
Keda miraculously lands on a rock outcropping about half way down the
cliff face, but it is still too far for Tau to reach him. Keda is
unconscious, and does not respond to his fathers calls.
Tau is convinced that he must leave his son for dead and head towards
home in order to be able to provide for the tribe.
A day later, Keda wakes and finds himself alone, with broken bones, and
no way to get off the cliff face.
What follows is a story of coming of age and determination. Keda must
find his way off the cliff face, and using the tools given to him by his
father on the way to the bison hunting grounds, find his way home. He
finds unlikely companionship in a wolf that he injured while the wolf
pack was hunting him down to try to eat him, which he nurses back to
health. He names the wolf “Alpha”, but in truth, it is Keda who is
learning to become the alpha, or leader of the pack.
The scenery in the movie is breathtaking, and the movie really comes to
life with the 3D option. I can only imagine that it would be even better
in IMAX.
There were pieces of the film that were entirely un-realistic, but they
were rather quickly covered up by the fast-paced nature of the film.
The only part I really groaned at was the very end scene, but I will let
you draw your own conclusions on that so that I don’t ruin it for you!
My son just turned 10 and he liked it a lot, but did mention that a few
parts were not 100% “kid-friendly” due to the scare-factor. He was
specifically referring to one scene that made us both literally jump in
our seats. He said over all the movie was great and that he enjoyed it
immensely.
I would give this movie 3.5 out of 5 stars, and recommend that you see
it in IMAX 3D if you are able!