2013
Directed by Greg Mclean
Starring John Jarrat Ryan Corr and Shannon Ashlyn
One of the great things about Wolf Creek 2 is you should
know pretty quickly if this is your kind of movie or not. This is a movie with
no aspirations to be anything more than an over the top gore soaked good
time. The only question is what constitutes
a good time to you? Give it five minutes
and I’m sure you will know. I for one was in right away. The opening scene was
so good the movie could have completely gone off the rails and I would have
been inclined to give it a mostly positive review. Thankfully that is not the
case in Greg McLean’s follow up to 2005s Wolf Creek.
Mclean seems to have learned how to make a sequel by
watching James Cameron’s Aliens. While Wolf Creek 2 features the same lead in a
similar set of circumstances everything is amplified and played much bigger.
The gore, suspense and oddly enough comedy are all ratcheted up for this
installment. A lot of sequels try this formula but many fail. Wolf Creek 2 is
in no way a failure. I’m certain Greg Mclean has made the exact film that he
intended to make and I’m glad he has.
The film opens on two bored police officers manning a speed
trap. The officers are instantly shown to be characters of low moral fiber and you
watch with full confidence they will be getting their comeuppance soon enough.
The officers decide to pull over a pickup truck for speeding, despite the fact
the truck was not speeding. It would help pass the time and help fill the
quotas. The guy they decided to pick on is Mick Taylor (John Jarrat) and if you’ve
seen the first Wolf Creek you will know how egregious an error they made. It’s
been years since I saw the first Wolf creek but the second Mick entered the
frame I was taken back and knew I was in for something special.
I’m not sure why the makers of this film felt the need to
bookend the film with “based on true events” title cards. Sure, this is based on some kernel of truth
but it plays out like the Evil Dead 2 not 12 Years a Slave. This movie feels
so far removed from reality that when it points out that it was in fact based in reality it's jarring. Was this supposed to be an examination of darkness? I don’t believe that
for a second. The bookends give a sober feeling that is never on
display in the rest of this film. This is really nit-picky because it in no way detracted
from my enjoyment of the film. Just kind of ended the film on an awkward note that
felt out of place, it was like the title card from the end of Zodiac being put
on Rubber.
The fucking kangaroo scene…
Wow, I have nothing to say but
wow.
Wolf Creek 2 is currently streaming on Netflix
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