Director: Ian Sharp
Writer: Nicolas Van Pallandt (Screenplay)
Starring: Ray Winstone, Temuera Morrison, Gareth Reeves, Mark Mitchinson, Daniel Musgrove, Andy Anderson, Mick Rose, Jodie Hillock
Plot: An Afrikaner veteran of the Boer War has just immigrated to New Zealand and is hired to track a man accused of killing a soldier. While hunting through the countryside he captures his fugitive, only to learn that he’s innocent of the crime. When faced with the life changing decision to turn him in or set him free only one man will walk away alive.
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: Slow but Solid
Story: Tracker starts in the aftermath of the Boer War where we see Major Carlysle (Reeves) trying to keep the peace between both sides. When Arjan van Diemen (Winstone) arrives in New Zealand he gets recruited to find Kereama (Morrison) a local man accused of killing a soldier that we all see Saunders (Mitchinson) really killed.
When Arjan catches up with Kereama the two men realize they are not so different as they try to outsmart each other and return to the British soldiers.
Tracker show how honor between men can be the beginning middle and end of where the characters end up going. Everything does play out slowly but complete between the characters who all believe in their own way they are doing the right thing which is a good thing. If this was cut down slightly we could have got the same message without having all the side tracked visuals though. This is solid for what it is trying to tell though.
Actor Review
Ray Winstone: Arjan van Diemen is a South African soldier who has moved to New Zealand to start a new life after losing his family. He is an expert tracker that Major Carlysle recruits to find a wanted criminal only to find himself bonding with the native who share a similar enemy in the British. Ray is good in this role that is filled with regret throughout.
Temuera Morrison: Kereama is the native who gets falsely accused of murdering a British solider, having to go on the run he gets tracked down by Arjan but he uses all his tricks to keep his safety on his native land. Temuera is good in this role and works really well of Winstone.
Gareth Reeves: Major Pritchard Carlysle is trying to keep the peace between the two sides after the conflict in New Zealand, when he sees the aftermath of the crime he searches for the man to get an honest answer to the crime. He does come off the most reasonable of all the soldiers in this film. Gareth plays a good honest character but comes off overly genetic.
Mark Mitchinson: Saunders is the drunken soldier that gets into a fight with Kereama leading to him killing the soldier and putting all the blame on Kereama. Mark is solid enough in this supporting role.
Support Cast: Tracker has a small supporting cast with most just being the fellow soldiers searching for the wanted man.
Director Review: Ian Sharp – Ian does a good job directing this getting s beautiful shots of the landscape to let the story unfold within.
Action: Tracker is filled with action that is mostly chases and hand to hand combat moments.
Adventure: Tracker throws our character into an adventure where they must adventure across the New Zealand landscape.
Western: Tracker plays out like an old school western.
Settings: Tracker uses the landscape to fully immerse us into the film.
Special Effects: Tracker has solid effect when needed but never ends up turning to them.
Suggestion: Tracker is one I do think is worth a try but it does have moments of being very slow. (Try It)
Best Part: The two leads come off nicely.
Worst Part: Slightly slow.
Believability: No
Chances of Tears: No
Chances of Sequel: No
Post Credits Scene: No
Oscar Chances: No
Budget: $6,5 Million
Runtime: 1 Hour 42 Minutes
Tagline: Never Stop Running!
Trivia: After the first day of pursuit, Arjan van Diemen is in his camp site. He is seen holding his pocket watch in his right hand. From his viewpoint, his fingers point from 6 to 12 on the watch face. viewed from the front, he holds the pocket watch so that his fingers point from 3 to 9 on the clock face.
Overall: Solid little action western showcasing the beauty of New Zealand.
Rating
