Pork Pie Reboot Hits Australian Theatres

New Zealand’s Pork Pie screened recently as part of the Gold Coast Film Festival and is reviewed by Jake Tired for Australian entertainment news site, The Iris ahead of the film’s release in Australian cinemas on 4 May.

“After more than thirty years, the amber Mini has once more made the journey from tip to tip in the Land of the Long White Cloud,” Tired writes. “Pork Pie brings the 1981 New Zealand classic Goodbye Pork Pie into the 21st century, and it returns with more than just the mini.”

“Goodbye Pork Pie played a significant role in New Zealand cinema. The film heralded an opportunity for New Zealand people to tell New Zealand narratives, a concept that had previously been met with stunted box office returns and wavering critical reception. It was an important film driven by director Geoff Murphy and it is his son, Matt Murphy, who brings the classic into an age when New Zealand cinema is more certain of itself than ever.”

“Pork Pie is a blockbuster that manifests as the 1981 version without shackles. That is, it goes big, and doesn’t seem to compromise. The production value in Pork Pie makes the film look like a genuine Hollywood action flick, with massive car chases shot from helicopters, exploding vehicles and some of the best stunts from a Mini since The Italian Job. It could be in some part attributed to Murphy’s background in shooting advertisements, but the film shows no constraints to budget like the original and the epic scenes come together with precise execution.”

“Pork Pie is exciting, it is genuine and it pays homage to the original while pushing it to new frontiers. Stacked with great performances and a promising feature length debut from Murphy, it is the Goodbye Pork Pie for the millennial generation and a film that serves only to bolster the legacy of the original.”

Pork Pie stars Dean O’Gorman, James Rolleston, Antonia Prebble and Australian Ashleigh Cummings.

Original article by Jake Tired, The Iris, April 21, 2017.