Australia

Baz Luhrmann - people often say you either like his work or you don't. I seem to fall between those two camps. Strictly Ballroom wasn't for me, I thought that Romeo + Juliet was brilliant, Moulin Rouge! sort of grew on me, and now Australia.

Australia

Plot: 12/20
Acting: 17/20
Production: 18/20
Entertainment: 31/40

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Total: 78/100

Let's start by saying that there are no twists in the plot, you can guess what is going to happen in most instances without much difficulty whatsoever. Strangely this doesn't seem to matter.

The cinematography and soundtrack work very well to provide a suitably backdrop to what was a relatively bland story. The acting was also mostly quite good with notable performances by Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman, Bryan Brown, et. al., but what makes this film better than it would otherwise seem is the Luhrmann effect. You don't quite get the full Luhrmann [maybe 80% Luhrmann] but it is enough to lift the film out of the ordinary into the worthwhile.

Altogether I thought it was worth forking out to see it in the cinema and that it was a bit better than I expected.