Audience Member
I actually liked this movie, but generally I like Ned Kelly movies so
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
01/14/23
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Better than the 2019 film on the titular character, less hung up on the perversions of it all. However, this is not without it's flaws, the main being that it moves too quickly without much depth or buildup, there was no chance to like or care about what was happening.
Rated 2/5 Stars •
Rated 2 out of 5 stars
02/07/23
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Audience Member
After saving a young boy from drowning and being awarded a "hero sash" when he was himself a 10-year-old, Ned Kelly (Heath Ledger) grows up in the British colony of Victoria where he was born. The son of a Catholic Irish settler, he lives with his widowed mother Ellen (Kris McQuade), his younger brother Dan (Laurence Kinlan), and his two younger sisters Kate (Kerry Condon) and Grace (Emily Browning). Ned's best friend Joe (Orlando Bloom) and Dan's best friend Steve (Philip Barantini) are also often at the house. One day in 1871, when he's 17-year-old, he sees a white mare grazing alone in the outback. He rides it into town to impress a local girl named Jane, only to be arrested and subsequently imprisoned for supposedly stealing the horse, even though it had actually been stolen by an acquaintance of his, Wild Wright. He is released and comes home three years later, and starts helping his family with their small horse-breeding farm located near Beechworth. He takes vengeance on Wild Wright by beating him in a prizefight, and befriends Julia Cook (Naomi Watts), the beautiful wife of an English land owner who lives nearby. One night at a bar, a local constable named Fitzpatrick is abusively courting Kate. Ned intervenes and hostilities erupt with Fitzpatrick and his fellow officers. To get back at Ned, they take the Kellys' horses, but with the help of his brother and their friends, Ned steals them back. Some nights later, while Ned and Julia are consummating their blossoming passion in the Cooks' stables, Fitzpatrick shows up at the Kelly farm and asks to see Kate; when she once more rejects him, he tries to arrest Dan for horse stealing, invoking non-existent warrants for him and Ned. A fight ensues and Fitzpatrick is wounded, and falsely reports that it's Ned Kelly who shot him. In retaliation, the police arrest Ned's mother. Ned asks Julia to testify he was with her the night Fitzpatrick was at the Kelly's farm, but she refuses, saying that she would be disgraced by the public acknowledgement of their affair and her husband would take her children away. Ned, Dan, Joe and Steve become outlaws on the run. They later meet a patrol in the bushland and kill three officers in a shootout, despite Ned's efforts to have nobody get hurt. During the following months the "Kelly Gang" avoids capture, living in the outback, often without food. On one occasion, Julia gives them shelter at her farm while her husband is away. A large bounty is placed on their heads, and a decree is passed that allows anybody to shoot them on sight without consequences. They rob two English banks and burn the mortgage documents with which the Crown is starving the selectors. They give the money from their robberies to poor families in need, and soon become acclaimed as folk heroes by the Victorian population as much as the media depict them as violent criminals. To solve a situation in danger of escalating into widespread revolt, the Colonial Government sends in stern Superintendent Francis Hare (Geoffrey Rush)...
Rotten Tomatoes critical consensus states that "More depth about the legendary outlaw would be welcome, but as it is, Ned Kelly is a reasonably entertaining Western.". A review of the film comments "Heath Ledger gives a solid performance in the lead but Orlando Bloom and Geoffrey Rush are woefully underused." BBC film reviewer Nev Pierce gave the film 3 out of 5 stars, stating "there is some impressive action, albeit great scenes rather than sequences", concluding with "a rousing, watchable western". Jay Richardson from FutureMovies.co.uk stated "this is a competent and blandly enjoyable film with a solid central performance from Heath Ledger". Megan Spencer from ABC.net said "Thankfully Ned Kelly is a very cinematic Australian film, the international and local cast and crew made the most of their $30 million budget. And some of the best sequences are due in part to Heath Ledger's well delivered internal dialogue voice over, giving an inner life to the musings of a troubled anti-hero". Clint Morris, a reviewer from Film Threat, who gave the film 3 and half stars out of 5, said "It's an exciting movie filled with plenty of action, adventure, beautiful cinematography and best of all, terrific performances" while praising Ledger : "Heath Ledger is fantastic as Kelly. He gives a very immersing performance, and has misshapen himself into the character. When he wears that infamous tin helmet in the finale, we actually feel that's the real deal". More critically, one review describes the battle for Glenrowan, with masses of police and civilian casualties, along with a lion and monkey as "fictional nonsense".
Gregor Jordan´s version (based on Robert Drewe's 1991 novel "Our Sunshine") of the legendary bushranger and outlaw Ned Kelly from 2003 came out when I just moved to Australia, so I have in one way a fond memory of seeing it there at the movies. And I did also go to the Melbourne Old Gaol where was hanged for murder when I visited Melbourne. However, re-seeing "Ned Kelly" today, it´s clear there´s plenty of flaws in this film. Rest his soul, but Heath Ledger is overacting in a overblown theatrical way as Ned with a fake beard and the general acting is wobbly here and there and so is the direction to my mind. It´s not a convincing film of a historic event and putting Ledger in the lead was not really the correct choice in my book contrary to what Jordan thought . "Ned Kelly" is a forgettable film to me.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
02/21/23
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Audience Member
This movie is criminally underrated.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
02/08/23
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Audience Member
You end up hating the police and loving the outlaws. The characters are rather one dimensional.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
02/15/23
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Audience Member
Brilliant film, Heath and Orlando were both great. I loved this Western style take on the story of Ned Kelly, Australia's favourite outlaw. Really recommend this film but will warn that they speak in quite thick Irish accents so can be hard to follow if you aren't used to the accent.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
01/12/23
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