Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Powerful

Absolutely Fantastic

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

Great family movie, the story is awesome, surprisingly great acting for such a film, and touching to boot.

I want to avoid putting a knock on a family friendly movie but this picture didn't quite do it for me. If not for the resilience and determination of young Paikea (Keisha Castle-Hughes), I'm not sure there's much going on in the story to recommend it as family fare. Her grandfather Koro (Rawiri Paratene), if portrayed in an American film, would have been considered a classic male chauvinist, while her own father Porourangi (Cliff Curtis) demonstrated the utmost in cowardly behavior by fleeing the scene following the death of his wife in childbirth. Not to mention Koro's dismissive behavior in shunning the young boy Hemi (Mana Taumaunuwhen) because he was bested by Paikei in that stick contest. These were just a couple of horrible examples I would point out that don't deserve to be role modeled in a purportedly family picture.The only other character besides Paikea I could positively relate to was Uncle Rawiri (Grant Roa), who took her under his roof and behaved in a manner befitting a responsible adult whenever he saw something amiss around him. As for the young Keisha Castle-Hughes, I thought she did a credible job in her role as Paikea, with a compassion and love for her grandfather that transcended his rude behavior and brought the story to a positive conclusion. However one has to interpret her ride on the whale as somewhat allegorical. It was not as mystical and fun filled in the way the movie's advance would make you suspect.

This is truly a very good movie in every aspects but its most beautiful and important one is the concept of respect. I can't imagine a better way that teaches everyone why and how to respect what they are and what others are. The music is great, cinematography is amazing and the story is very interesting. However it needs a little patient for one to fully enjoy it. Watch it , it will be an excellent experience.

This to me was a very interesting movie to watch. It was pretty hard for me to understand at first, but I understood it more and more along the way as far as the plot line goes. It was also very different than most, if not all, of the movies we've watched throughout the year in this class. It is a story about a grandfather who wants to pass on his leadership to his grandson. The problem is, he doesn't have one. His son only has one daughter. A girl named Pai. He makes several efforts to find a capable young village boy to take his place. All of the boys fail, angering him and causing him to severely discourage his granddaughter Pai. Pai shows on many occasions how she is far better suited for the position of leader. In the end, she finally proves herself by releasing a pod of beached whales back into the ocean. Her grandfather later feels very bad for treating her the way he did and all is well. This was a very interesting story line in my eyes. It was pretty sad at some points, but also very happy at other times. In general, I like the main character Pai. She is very strong, intelligent, and outgoing. She also never gives up as she repeatedly attempts to show and prove her skills to her grandfather. My main gripes about the film were the acting and the grandfather. the acting for the most part was very bad in my eyes. I think the main problem was that a majority of the actors were children. I also severely disliked the grandfather. He was generally a mean, sour, and cold hearted person. Instead of supporting and standing up for his granddaughter, he put her down, ignored her, and attempted to discourage her from gaining the position of leader.