All Rise...

Judge William Lee once retraced his steps to find a forgotten bag of potato chips

The Charge

"We both hate the British."

Opening Statement

Ray Winstone has played many urban tough guys in the movies and one hero from classical literature. Temuera Morrison has played hard men too, ranging from a contemporary alcoholic abuser to an intergalactic bounty hunter. Now, the hunter becomes the hunted before becoming the hunter again—or is it the other way around? Nevertheless, two mean looking guys chase each other in the New Zealand wilds.

Facts of the Case

After the Second Boer War (1899-1902) many defeated South African farmers, having lost their lands and families, traveled abroad to distant parts of the British Empire. One of those men, Arjan van Diemen (Ray Winstone, 44 Inch Chest), arrives in New Zealand where he's immediately spotted by the local military commander, Major Carlysle (Gareth Reeves, I'm Not Harry Jenson). They were adversaries during the war.

When Maori whaler Kereama (Temuera Morrison, The Marine 2) gets into a brawl with some drunken British soldiers, he's falsely accused of killing one of the soldiers. He goes on the run through the New Zealand wilderness and van Diemen is recruited to bring him in for the 100 sovereigns reward if alive, 25 sovereigns if dead.

The Evidence

The cover art on this Lionsgate DVD release suggests a western in the style of The Searchers. However, Tracker is an action movie from New Zealand that has more in common with The Fugitive if set in the early twentieth century. The lush green landscape and cascading sapphire rivers of the country better known cinematically for standing in as Middle Earth are used to good effect in this lively but inconsequential chase picture.

The shadow of post-colonialism lurks around the margins of the script by Nicolas van Pallandt. These characters have histories and ghosts that weigh on their psyches. Van Diemen works for the British as an agent of the law but he still blames them for the loss of his home and the deaths of this family. Kereama returns to his home country to restore his ancestors' dignity but finds himself hunted like a criminal. Van Diemen and Kereama, two men displaced by the British, have histories with similarities so their conflict is complicated by the fact that viewers will root for them both equally.

The third main character in this chase is Major Carlysle, an officer who isn't proud of all he's witnessed during his military career. These three seem resigned to the knowledge that they're merely players in history rather than its orchestrators. Their collective sullen attitude lends them a deeper level of believability and sympathy but it also keeps them from fully committing to their actions. This holds the movie back because seeing three good guys pitted against each other doesn't translate too well into an escapist action picture. The only true villain of the movie is a corrupt soldier who is such a stereotypical douchebag that it's a relief he has so little screen time.

Winstone and Morrison carry the film just fine but they do ham it up in a few scenes. In one of many moments when they face off against each other, it's not clear whether the dialogue during their standoff is supposed to be comical. The tension is certainly undermined when these two strong and silent types are given too much banter. Winstone has a big, imposing presence that works very well for his character. Morrison brings intelligence, stoicism and a hint of humor to his role. Seeing Beowulf and Jango Fett in a fistfight is one of the highlights of the movie. The choreography isn't fast so in some angles it feels like we're watching two old guys fake-fighting but combined with some competent stunt work it looks very down to earth dirty and dangerous.

Ian Sharp has a lengthy career directing for television and Tracker often has the feel of a TV movie. Small interior sets, economical use of background players and repetitive angles at locations make this feel like a competent production that isn't quite ready to leap from the small screen. The plotting also follows a pattern that makes sense for the script but feels like it's just filling time. Typically we see Kereama pass a location. Later, we see van Diemen go through the same location, pausing to examine what Kereama as disturbed. Finally, we see Major Carlysle and his team walk through the location again to discover evidence of the two earlier visitors. Sharp shows he's entirely capable of filming this story, however, he never threatens to inject something unique and unexpected to the proceedings.

The picture quality is decent on this DVD. Many scenes are loaded with dense background detail and in a few early scenes it looks like the transfer isn't always smooth. Still, the image is clean and colors are strong. The surround audio mix is fairly active and satisfyingly so. For the first 30 minutes especially, I had trouble hearing Winstone's deeply mumbled dialogue and for that reason alone I relied on the English subtitles to catch every word of his Afrikaans-accented lines.

The disc's extras are a trailer and five interviews with the director and cast. The actors look a little uncomfortable in their interviews, almost like they were answering an oral exam to prove they had read the script.

The Rebuttal Witnesses

It looks like the marketing people at Lionsgate didn't bother to watch the movie before they put together the cover art for the DVD. The pictures on the front and back of the box make it look like the characters are trekking through Monument Valley with its vast desert landscape and high stone spires. The New Zealand locations used in the movie in no way resemble the backgrounds on the Lionsgate DVD box. The summary on the back cover is misleading: it identifies van Diemen as a soldier returning to his homeland and searching for the man who killed a fellow soldier. It's unfortunate that the distribution company didn't spare the time to watch their own movie. Viewers picking this one up expecting an American western will be disappointed.

Closing Statement

It's not the dusty western Lionsgate would have you believe and it's not an exceptional wilderness adventure movie. Nevertheless, a decently scripted tale with some historical context and enjoyable performances make this an entertaining action movie. The gorgeous New Zealand landscape is also shown off quite nicely and it's less familiar in the movies than Monument Valley.

The Verdict

Not guilty.

Give us your feedback!

Did we give Tracker a fair trial? yes / no

What's "fair"? Whether positive or negative, our reviews should be unbiased, informative, and critique the material on its own merits.

Share This Review

 Tweet

Buy This Blu-ray/DVD

Additional Purchase Recommendations

Similar Decisions

• Losing Isaiah
• Stealth
• A River Runs Through It
• Desperado: Superbit Edition