I will take a swing in this movies defense.
Like you, busterboy, I enjoyed the film.
I, on the other hand, found no serious plotholes in this tale.
And don't get me wrong, I appreciate the gravity of the accusations made in this thread.
I too have a real problem with stories not making any sense, and with characters actions being poorly motivated. (If anyone doubts the veracity of that claim, they can go read my scorching review of 'Y - The Last Man' graphic novel series on amazon.co.uk for confirmation). With that said, lets get to it.
Spoilers abound below, but hey, that goes for this entire thread.
Bears points:
1. You'll have to elaborate a bit on this one if you want a more elaborate answer.
Mainly: yes, it is subtle, but it is not in any way nonexistant if you care to watch. Martin is a real loner, and not in a small way. He may not be unkind or uncaring, but notice how callously he shuts down the initial approach of the children. Yet slowly, and in spite of himself, he thaws up in an entirely credible fashion. No hollywood hogwash lovestory there. Just credible people starting to get emotionally engaged with each other. That's it. So my guess is that you really have another problem with that arc. Care to share, Bear?
2. To get any hints of whats going on with the company, again, you need to pay attention to details. Armstrong got paranoid with the company. That means they weren't telling him up front of their intentions. The company also has a cleaner, and this guy is obviously a stone cold killer: heavyhanded and brutal. His encounter with Martin should tell you as much. Armstrong was obviously a dreamer,with sincere eco-warrior (savior) complexes. We can infer: the company will have played him as such. He gets it towards the end: the company wanted the tiger and its dna for one thing only: the toxin. The name Red Leaf suggests bloodwork. Maybe not just engineering the stuff, aye?At any rate, we have a couple of pretty cold businessmen in the background. It should be obvious to everyone that if the cleaner came with the intention of wiping out the entire family, he would have done so first, and looked at the computer later. His main concern was getting info while maintaining secrecy, however. As for what happens to the mother and daughter, that should help clarify it for you.
As for what happened to the man... well. Ecowarrior/saviour type is finally confronted in the same fashion as Martin was. He is asked a question.
Now. What do YOU think happened?
I think it makes pretty good sense, with a cynical company pulling the strings in the background, and a brutal killer up front.
3. He may not know it's the last one. No one could know that, obviously. But he has been searching for long enough to make an educated guess that any other survivors will likely not be found any time soon, and likely just aren't there.
While the tiger is still there, the companys prize can still be attained.
The cleaner got his position, likely reported it, and they finally went up there by gps. So, he needed to remove the prize lest the company got it, and his message was nothing but a spiteful slap in the face off the company, perhaps also hoping to cause a few responsible heads to roll. 'Nough said.
As for the final protest
"what about just saving it for the sake of saving it?"
Yes, what about that? Who cares? Eco-warriors? Dreamers?
The last one got whacked. It damned near happened to Martin as well.
So, what should he do now? catch the old bitch? what's her future, then?
Do you think it likely that the company will not get their prize if her body reaches civilization? How about her dna? What would you save? how would you do it? Would you let the company get their prize in the end, after they killed off your last decent shot at having a family, and tried to kill you too?
Those are my answers for Bear.
As for your own, questions, busterboy, I guess I only need to answer for Sam Neills character. He was the companys local guy. The non-professional who just happened to live there, know people, have connections on both sides of the local conflict, and to be a man that could be bought. Red Leaf did so.
And the fool spurred them on, first sight of Martin making him uneasy.
His arc is about how nice it is to feel that you have power, and how badly suited some people are for that.
The major story arc (in my view) of this whole movie, is not about Tasmania at all. It is about humanity, and the divine comedy of our collective attempts to administer nature at its most vulnerable.
Take the climate changes as a completely random example. If those are truly man-induced, I'd say we can only beg and pray that technological developments will provide some easy replacements for fossil fuel, some time awful soon. If left to making hard choices, humanity is going to hell in a handbag... Best of luck to all of us!
I'd say this movie was a 7 or an 8. I gave it a 7.
As much as I like subtle, and respect gritty realism, I'm also more into stronger drama. So, while I liked this movie, I'm guessing it won't be one I will see again any time soon.
reply
share
xterminal
12 years ago
<em>3. He may not know it's the last one. No one could know that, obviously. But he has been searching for long enough to make an educated guess that any other survivors will likely not be found any time soon, and likely just aren't there.
While the tiger is still there, the companys prize can still be attained.
The cleaner got his position, likely reported it, and they finally went up there by gps. So, he needed to remove the prize lest the company got it, and his message was nothing but a spiteful slap in the face off the company, perhaps also hoping to cause a few responsible heads to roll. 'Nough said. </em>
Actually, in the exchange he has with Sam Neill's character not long before this, he quite explicitly spells out his position on this, and it's pretty obvious what's going to happen if he ever finds the silly thing. I can't remember the exact wording, but I'll paraphrase it as "as long as it's alive, they'll keep sending hunters after it." By killing the tiger, he shuts down the entire operation.
reply
share