zzzorf

Having watched Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid only a few months back the story was still in my mind quite well giving me a chance to better understand this movie, to be honest I didn't really need to have that knowledge going into this as it was easily self sustainable and watchable in its own bubble.

This was a good character driven/story based Western, the sort I can actually sit and watch and enjoy. It was interesting to have seen what became of Butch and what he had become (even though the whole thing was fictional and not based in fact). his character arc was well done and you could see just where he was coming from.

The storyline was simple enough to follow with the final outcome being quite satisfing to the rest of the story and the characters involved.

I tried to give this movie the benefit of the doubt, I really did but it just was never really sure of what it wanted to be.

The movie started off as a mans return to his homeland through the jungle, which mostly consisted of him walking through the jungle or praying to his ancestors to get him home safe and random shots of animals.

After a chunk of the movie was wasted he then has a near death experience which sees him saved by a native and then he just happens to meet up with a friend from his village and that's where the movie changes.

Well if you can even call it a movie, more like a documentary about the Aluku people with some drama links to it.

For what it was worth it was ok and that is why it gets the half way rating for me, I just wished it new what it was doing the whole way through and not change styles, there was no real reason for the boring beginning if the history lesson was the films main goal.

Only two words are needed to describe this movie.

BRILLIANT

BEAUTIFUL

That is all there is to it.

OK well I better elaborate.

First of let me say that the first thing this movie made me think about was The Adventures of Milo and Otis, a movie i have loved since childhood. This movie was shot on the similar idea, letting the animals play out the parts naturally and shooting it in a sort of documentary style.

That is where Amazonia really outshines Milo and Otis however, the cinematography in this was absolutely superb. You can tell those behind the camera really put an effort into getting the best shots they could allowing for some amazing footage, with the variety of animals looking absolutely beautiful.

Where Amazonia misses out though, and the reason I pulled short of giving a perfect score, was the lack of a narrator ala Milo and Otis. I think the added bit of a storyteller just missed that extra little thing to get over that last hurdle and meet the entire audience. Just think of someone like Richard Attenborough or Morgan Freeman telling the monkey's story while we were watching. According to IMDb Martin Sheen does do a narration so one day I may go looking for one of those copies and it may just give it that extra edge it needs. All the same though this is a must watch for the movie is just

BRILLIANT

and

BEAUTIFUL.