Napoleon "Kiwi" Dynamite
Yes, this Napoleon Dynamite set in New Zealand. There are so many similarities to the above-average Napoleon that it is almost a parody, except it contains very few laughs. So contrived it actually made me cringe. Cliche after cliche after cliche.

The writer/director has noted the popularity of "quirkiness" in indie films, and his script-by-numbers attempts to conform to as many stereotypes in this genre as humanly possible.

Little depth, less than endearing characters, predictable, self-gratuitous and pointless.

A dismal film. Those who love quirky, dry indie films, and those who do not, AVOID. Watch Science of Sleep. Or Squid and the Whale... or Wes Anderson films, or, hell, anything else. You will find more emotional depth and artistic intent in Rambo.

I was given this film for free; I was overcharged.

dark departure for Conchord
I investigated this film on the back of brilliant indie comedy Flight of the Conchords, the vehicle through which Jermaine Clement achieved mainstream fame. Having never seen him outside of his bizarrely symbiotic relationship with Bret Mckenzie, I was surprised to see Clement here: in a Dynamite-esqe film. While Clement gets most of the good one liners in this film, you may find yourself disliking him in the first portion of the film. Before the action moves wholesale to Jarrod's family home, he comes across as rather one dimensional next to the bottomless well of emotion that is Lily. His assertion "I'm just so deep" makes you want to answer "No, you're just an insensitive idiot".

However, this is a film of 2 halves, and when you meet Jarrod's family, you realise what lies behind his Dynamite style bravado. Lily's patience, emotion and soul cannot help but touch you from here on in, and you'll root for her all the way through. Probably as the film maker intended, the whole film eventually hangs on one line spoken by Jarrod near the end, and you'll either hate or love the film based on this. If you loved the Life Aquatic (the film this most closely resembles apart from Dynamite), then you'll probably like this. It kept me smiling all the way through, but also left me very sad in places. The animation sequences have been criticised in other reviews, but I found they made sense by the end.

This is a different comedy from the Conchords, a deep emotional one, and it certainly has depths where Dynamite had none. It's much heavier than Little Miss Sunshine and Eternal Sunshine. I'm only awarding 3 stars, as some aspects of the film are tacked on for no apparent reason, (a certain little girl, for example) and this is definitely not a film for everyone. I liked it, It's broken, but beautiful.


"You foolish fool" add it to your basket
I saw this film completely off the cuff, after strolling in to a small cinema on a visit to Poland. I had no idea what it was called or what it was about we just picked the first film available in English.

And turned out to be this wondrous gem, Eagle vs Shark' lily an obviously lonely individual takes an eye for an electronics shop assistant `jarred' an emotional inept loveable idiot! Who decide to embark on a quest for jarred to get he's revenge on a school bully after jarred takes to her with a little help from her computer game skills. On the way we get to meet their family's who are all justified and interesting characters the performances are flawless from everyone and mixing that with a great scrip films rarely fail.

It was funny and in places hilarious, throughout yet I had tears in the back of my eyes some of joy and some of sorrow the majority of the way through. The music is another thing that goes hand in hand with everything I have just listed and only adds the way this film knocked me down in its avalanche of beauty.

I have struggled to realize the point in films in our current decade but I think we have finally got some kind of formula that is unique. The formula I believe `Wes Anderson' is king of. Sensitive films that are deep and loving that seem to peel off layers and layers of emotions and situations until they get to the films climax or the core of the character and ourselves. Also usually a film containing an array of characters that keep you loving them start to finish. Not only with his films such as`Bottle Rocket' Royal Tenenbaums' `Dargeeling limited' which I think lay at the heart of this original movement we also have others like `Little miss sunshine' Napoleon Dynamite' `Happiness' even `Nacho libre' Les Choristes' and of course this classic `Eagle vs Shark' I hate putting things in boxes and I'm not, its just nice to finally see some films with substance and feeling. Which allow me to finally start think that perhaps these are not just little one offs but finally a good thing happening to the modern film industry.



Awesome!!
I went to New Zealand last August and stayed in Auckland. On my last night there we decided to go and see a Kiwi movie at the local cinema, and we wanted to go and see the film that had massive posters everywhere; Eagle VS Shark. Other than that we knew nothing about this movie. I honestly didn't expect Kiwis to have such an excellent sense of humour (I like to think Brits have the best) but I was verging on embarrassing because I was literally laughing hysterically for the majority of the film. The use of the stone roses track at the end did indeed bring a lump to my throat, and people may say this film is just an imitation of Napoleon Dynamite but I don't care to be honest because I've never even seen that film!! And I love Eagle VS Shark! It really suprised me and though I wanted to hate Jarrod for being so mean to lovely little Lily I actually found him kind of hot. The wheelchair scene is the best part! Watch it if only for that it is so shockingly brilliant! You expect this film to have a yucky American conclusion but it really swings the other way. Love it!!

Quirky bundle of joy
Watched this one Saturday afternoon when had nothing else to do. Maybe it was my frame of mind at the time but I just loved it. It made me laugh straight away, I loved its oddness and by the end felt all warm inside! At 84 mins it was just the right length to keep the viewer engaged and keep up the pace.

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