The Hunter (2012)

Filmed entirely in Tasmania and some of the scenery shot is quite tremendous, it really is the sparkle in this film, without it this it would be really quite average.On the whole the film isn't exactly stunning, its an oddity really, Dafoe is sent into the outback of Tasmania to find the thought to be extinct Thylacine or Tasmanina Tiger after a few apparent sightings. He stays with a woman and her kids and helps get her life back on track and off medication due to her husband vanishing in the outback.At the same time he of course gets very friendly with the woman and her kids, gets slightly tangled in local disputes between tree loggers and environmental groups against the loggers (of which the woman he stays with is part of) whilst also trying to solve the disappearance of her husband plus track a live Thylacine.The problem with the film is it doesn't feel like its about anything in particular and it doesn't feel like there is any real conclusion at the end. Without trying to give the game away Dafoe does achieve his goals but doesn't do anything about it, he discovers what happens to the woman's husband but seems to do nothing, we're not quite sure exactly why the company hes working for wants him to find a Thylacine and at the end he does something which doesn't seem right, you don't know wether your on his side with his decision.Dafoe is suppose to be a hunter, he tracks and survives in the wild, this we know, but seeing him roam the outback setting nasty steel traps and shooting mammals doesn't really sit right with me, he's suppose to be the 'hero' of the film looking after a lone woman and her kids but he doesn't really do anything other than kill animals and set traps, are we suppose to root for Dafoe's character?The acting is superb with Dafoe and good old Sam Neill on form, the kids play their parts very well too but the plot is strange and jumbled and for lovers of wildlife it isn't quite what you expect. Well filmed, well crafted with lovely location work and a pretty real looking Tasmania Tiger in the finale (you know he finds it before you even begin to watch) but it seems down beat overall.