thomas4cinema
Trying to keep track of my world of personal media – film comments and more
Wolf Creek II (Greg McLean 2014)
While the original "Wolf Creek" was a very enjoyable addition to the genre of slashers slashing kids, with some new perspectives and some new additions to the range of things people can do to each other, the second one is doing exactly what you would expect from a sequel: it does the same, but a bit worse in most respects. I would not call it a big disappointment, but a slight letdown. They try to bring something new to the table, by opening the location, making more use of the Australian outback. But then again, the way it is done feels like perennial references to other films, which made me think that would be something you do at sequel seven rather at sequel one of such a franchise. There is the Spielberg-Duel reference, quite prominently, there is the "Who wants to become a millionaire (while keeping most of fingers) reference, there is a bit of hostel and a bit of Saw. Bad Guy Mick is a caricature by now, already in this second part elevated to be as immortal as Jigsaw or Freddy Krueger. That takes out a bit of the possible tension, as you can be rather sure that the only way of escaping his grasp is in a way that would allow him to come back to you later.
There are some holy shit moments, one involving a German boyfriend, another – oddly enough – a herd of frightened kangaroos. I cannot quite remember whether the first part already looked into Mick's motives, but the second one is loaded with Australian features, painting him to be some form of degenerate patriot (a perverted outcome of what happens when you dump a bunch of convicts in a very remote place and leave them to rot maybe?).
I read that Wolf Creek has become some form of pride of the Australian film industry. The second part will not contribute much to that, but it will do not much damage either, as it has a very clear-cut target group. They should be pleased with it, all things considered. And they will be happy to see a third part in which Mick will do away with some aliens and French people who stepped on his holy desert patch, supposedly…
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/wolf_creek_2/
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