Wolf Creek 2

Wolf Creek 2 Review

Mick Taylor is back and boy oh boy is he better than ever!  Even though it’s been eight years since the first Wolf Creek, Mick is slashing, stabbing, shooting and paralyzing foreign tourists like it was just yesterday!  Just like stabbing a bike eh, Mick?  Well, something like that…

This film is just the third feature film from writer/director Greg Mclean, a member of the infamous “splat pack” film directors.  This effort shows a maturity in aesthetic and a polished directing style that was missing from the first film.  Don’t get me wrong, I loved Wolf Creek, but I don’t own it; this film I will definitely buy and I suggest you do the same.

 

The film starts off with a couple backpacking across the Australian outback only to cross paths with the murderous, demented Mick Taylor, played by John Jarratt who reprises his role from the first film.  Mr. Jarratt is an excellent actor and is completely believable in the psychopath role.  I guess that’s a compliment.    Though the film had those moments where you yell at the television and tell the girl to “RUN, B*TCH!!!!  WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!?!?” the acting by Shannon Ashlyn and Phillipe Klaus, the unwitting couple, is excellent.

So we have it set up: Mick Taylor is the bad guy and he chases the couple through the outback hitting one speed bump of terror after another for 90 minutes right?  WRONG.  What was really inventive about Wolf Creek 2 is Mick Taylor is the main character!  Just when you think you’ve got a protagonist…WRONG AGAIN!  It’s nothing to lose your head over though; each new character that takes the place of the old dead one is just as superb and just as believable.  Take the character Paul Hammersmith, played by actor Ryan Corr, for example: he is just a good dude, stopping to help a lady in need and then BANG now he’s the target of Mick’s dissection…I mean affection!  He all too soon realizes the old adage…when you’re in the outback, never stop.

 I’m rambling now about how great this movie was but it did have some issues: the car chase was a bit ridiculous on its own, expecting us to believe any vehicle could stand going 70mph over the jagged terrain of the Australian outback.  I was ok with it though until the chase culminated in a herd of kangaroos deciding to cross the road while Paul Hammersmith flees Mick Taylor-- who traded in his truck from Texas Chainsaw Massacre and got an 18 wheeler….after killing the driver of course.  Let’s just say if the CGI wasn’t so bad PETA would be all over this film for how many kangaroos appeared to be mashed, smashed, crushed and ran over.  At least twenty computer looking kangaroos get killed.  I know they aren’t going to use real kangaroos and the cost of puppets or whatever would be way too much money, but if that’s the case just leave the scene out!  It didn’t add anything to the chase, in fact, it took away the seriousness and looked silly.

Hmmmm mashed, smashed, crushed and ran over….aren’t those all the same?  Wolf Creek 2 is Not Rated, has a run time of 106 minutes and it gets a 4 out of 5 stars on the gore score.  We absolutely loved this film at the Basement of Terror for its acting, gore, unpredictability and overall fun.  We also liked how they make no doubt that there will be a third installment!!!