betty dalton
Family of criminals goes down the drain on a path of violence. Really that's all there's to it. "Animal Kingdom" is a barrage of violence upon violence. It is structured and acted in a way that makes it feel as if it were a true story, because the performances by the actors are so believable. I read the notes and it seems to be partly inspired by true events. The almost documentary approach in filming hightened this feeling of watching a "fly on the wall" documentary. All this realism made me react intenser to the characters than I would normally do.For example I really loathed the guy who was the head of the family, because of his inbread instinct to solve any problem with a killing spree. What he did was just plain repulsive killing for revenge and to silence witnesses to his crimes. No fun to watch. Fascinating nonetheless. Dont watch this if you like to see some heroic type of violence. The type of violence in "Animal Kingdom" is like a kick in your guts. Director David Michod has got a knick for making movies full of violence that make me feel depressed. Still it is a very good portrayal of what violence does: it breeds more violence. And for that quality and for the real life portrayal by the actors I highly recommend this picture. David Michod's films are the best antidote for the usual hollywood glorification of violence. 8 stars.
Per Johnsen
Some people think that if a crime film is slow, lacks so called action with lots of running, shooting and car chasing, that it has to be boring. It says more about these people's life and mind than about what makes a film good.In the brilliant crime drama Animal Kingdom there is some shooting, but nothing unnecessary or with very cruel pictures. There is no car chasing but there is some escape running, though we never follow any of the characters longer than needed. It's all there, intense, stunning and with blood. The story is clear, always balanced without any cliché, and when we as viewers enter into the character's lives, it mostly is normal and calm, just like most lives are, even if it's the one of a criminal. Then, there are the levels of individual moral standards, which we are diving into, but without making anything too obvious. There is always something unexpected behind. Never are too many words spoken, and when there is nothing to say, the scenes are guided by brilliant music, not pathetic at all.The story is brilliantly balanced, the dialogue is natural, and the acting is superb, so must the direction also have been, all the way. Animal Kingdom shows us what humans are. We are animals.
Liam Blackburn
Pope in this movie, his eyes, they're pure evil. What else can you say, the first moment he enters the act, you just get a massively uneasy feeling wash over you. The music in this movie is really well done. Came to this movie after watching The Rover and this one is as much if not better than that one. It has the same feel to it. Very stark deep and emotionally involving.. The characters develop incredibly well, you end up feeling their feelings. When Pope murders the guy's girlfriend, that was pretty much one of the most evil things I've ever seen in a movie. It was actually absolutely shocking. The animal kingdom is full of beasts. Let us not forget that humans are beasts just like all the rest.
Thanos Karagioras
"Animal Kingdom" is a movie which shows us a seventeen year old child who is trying to survive from his criminal family in which he necessarily entered when his mother died from overdose of drugs.Guy Pearce who played as Detective Senior Sgt Nathan Leckie makes a really good interpretation as the good guy who is trying to save this child (Joshua 'J' Cody) from his criminal family. James Frecheville also makes a good interpretation played as Joshua 'J' Cody the seventeen year old child.In this movie we can observe and think what people can do to make some easy money and what are the consequences that they have to the innocent people of a family for example. I think that "Animal Kingdom" shows us these things with the eye of reality and makes us think more some things of life.
AD
