Directed by: Lee Tamahori
Genres: Drama
Cast: Rena Owen, Temuera Morrison, Mamaengaroa Kerr-Bell, Julian Arahanga, Taungaroa Emile, Rachael Morris Jr., Joseph Kairau, Cliff Curtis, Pete Smith, George Henare, Mere Boynton, Shannon Williams, Calvin Tuteao, Ray Bishop, Ian Mune
IMDB raintg: 7.9
My rating: 4.0 [rate 4.0]
I’ve got this film by mistake. I wanted something else, but got this one. I checked the rating at IMDB and was surprised to find out that it was 7.9. That’s more than good enough to watch. And so I did.
I’ve seen a number of films on the subject of home violence. Some touched me, others didn’t. “Once Were Warriors” is one of those that didn’t. I just couldn’t relate to anything in this film.
The story seemed well-known, predictable and unoriginal. The storytelling was linear without any surprises. Acting wasn’t up to the par and dialogues surely needed a lot more work. Soundtrack sucked. And there wasn’t enough drama at all. And there were only a three or four weak attempts to show romance, which were not enough. Either more screen time should have been given to the “love” part or none at all.
On top of all of that, all characters were very simplistic. Not much room for development, you know.
Overall a very weak film. There are better ones. Skip this.