In Taika Waititi's Hunt For The Wilderpeople, one quality that every character seems to possess is hilarious directness. Whether its great happiness or discontentment, everyone wears their feelings on their sleeve, and more often than not it results in great laughs. For a perfect example, one need look no further than the movie's fantastic "birthday" scene, which we have for your viewing pleasure below!
With Hunt For The Wilderpeople arriving in limited release today, The Orchard has provided us with this fantastic exclusive clip. The scene is from very early in the movie -- so don't worry about spoilers -- and sees young Ricky Baker (Julian Dennison), a hoodlum orphan, finally starting to find himself a home in the country house of Bella (Rima Te Wiata) and Hec (Sam Neill). While Bella is clearly very happy to have Ricky with them, as communicated in exuberant and creative song, the same can't exactly be said for Hec, who just wears the perfect expression of pure disgruntled-ness on his face for this entire wonderful sequence:
Despite the attitude projected by Sam Neill's character, this sequence is part of a happy first act in Hunt For The Wilderpeople that quickly turns down after a tragic event. Sadly, the joyous and Ricky Baker-loving Bella winds up dying, and leaving her newly-adopted son in the care of his "Uncle" Hec. This doesn't suit either Ricky or Hec, but after the former runs away into the bush and the latter goes chasing after him, it kick starts a wonderful, silly, and incredibly funny big screen adventure.
Taika Waititi, who made his feature directorial debut with Eagle vs. Shark in 2007, has been wonderfully growing and maturing as a filmmaker over the last few years, and both Hunt For The Wilderpeople and his brilliant vampire mockumentary What We Do In The Shadows do an amazing job showcasing his great and hilarious sensibilities. He's most definitely a filmmaker on the rise, as indicated by the fact that Marvel Studios has handed him the responsibility of making the upcoming blockbuster Thor: Ragnarok, but after watching Hunt For The Wilderpeople, it's hard to have anything but pure faith in his abilities.
Hunt For The Wilderpeople, which also co-stars Rachel House, Oscar Knightley and Rhys Darby, is now in limited release, and if you're simply a fan of great comedies it's a movie that you should definitely seek out.
