Film

What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases

Search cinema listings

Browse cinemas A-Z

Search 20,000 reviews

 

Eagle vs Shark (2007)

Director: Taika Waititi

3

Time Out rating

Average user rating
4 reviews

Movie review

From Time Out London

In 2003, Kiwi director Taika Waititi (sometimes credited as Taika Cohen) made ‘Two Cars, One Night’, a charming and spiky short about two pubescent kids waiting in a pub car park. The boy was cocky and guileless but had a certain appeal; the girl was sceptical but indulgent. Waititi’s debut feature offers pretty much the same dynamic with characters a decade or two older, but the spikiness has been smoothed into quirkiness. The result, though not unenjoyable, feels distinctly derivative.

Mousy, moochy Lily (Loren Horsley) works at the Meaty Boy burger joint and has a crush on Jarrod (Jemaine Clement), the alpha dork from the Screenblasters electronics store in the same mall. He habitually blanks her until she sneaks into his animal costume/video game tournament party and demonstrates her prowess at the console. (He’s the eagle, she’s the shark.) A socially clumsy romance begins but Jarrod is also nursing a vendetta against an old classmate…

Overendowed with quasi-retarded losers, off-kilter handicrafts (World Trade Center candles, sketches of big cats), whimsical stop-motion animation and an essentially formulaic love story, This wears its influences heavily: ‘Napoleon Dynamite’ looms especially large, with hefty dashes of Michel Gondry and Wes Anderson too; it comes as no surprise that it was developed through the Sundance Lab. That said, ‘Eagle Vs Shark’ pleases even if it doesn’t surprise: the dialogue and performances are likable, the photography accomplished and the soundtrack pleasant. You just can’t help feeling the set was plastered with signs reading ‘Think quirky!’

Author: Ben Walters 2007-08-13 16:52:45

Time Out London Issue 1930: August 15-21 2007


  • Print this page
  • Send to a friend

User reviews of this film

  • Jack and Sam Know All said...
    Posted on Feb 12 2008 03:46 I'm suprised at the lack of reviews on this one.
    Aw i love this one. A twee and film that is wonderfully written with fantastic dry humor and a wicked soudtrack! 'The Phoenix Foundation' - give them a bash.
    Flight Of The CC's rock.
    BITCH
    COCKHOLE
    yeah............................go see.
    Report as inappropriate
  • Sir Toby Belch said...
    Posted on Dec 09 2007 11:14 havent seen it but loooks awesome. Flight of the Conchords!
    Report as inappropriate
  • Paul said...
    Posted on Aug 19 2007 09:33 Whale Rider meets Napoleon D, some good quirky laughs and embarrassing moments. Understand why so many kiwis come to London. NZ answer to Matt Damon
    Report as inappropriate
  • tyson said...
    Posted on Aug 16 2007 04:41 it was a good game
    Report as inappropriate
4 comments

What do you think?
Post your review now

clear rating
Min 1 star. Zero stars will be treated as unrated.

*mandatory fields





Top Stories

Review: Penélope Cruz more raunchy than ever in 'Nine'

Review: Penélope Cruz more raunchy than ever in 'Nine'

Dave Calhoun reports on Rob Marshall's Oscar-touted musical with Daniel Day-Lewis playing a troubled director

Time Out's 101 Films of the Decade

Time Out's 101 Films of the Decade

Ten years, thousands of movies and millions of dollars in international box office, and it all boils down to this

Jim Jarmusch on 'The Limits of Control'

Jim Jarmusch on 'The Limits of Control'

Jim Jarmusch has followed ‘Broken Flowers’ with an esoteric crime mystery. Dave Calhoun speaks to him from his New York office

Richard Linklater on 'Me and Orson Welles'

Richard Linklater on 'Me and Orson Welles'

Dave Calhoun meets the 49-year-old, Houston-born filmmaker Richard Linklater to discuss his new comedy

Our verdict on Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones

Our verdict on Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones

Peter Jackson ends a triumphant decade with a sentimental misfire with this lush Alice Sebold adaptation

On the set of Ken Loach's 'Route Irish'

On the set of Ken Loach's 'Route Irish'

Dave Calhoun meets Ken Loach on the set of his forthcoming Iraq war movie

Is 'Paranormal Activity' the new 'Blair Witch'?

Is 'Paranormal Activity' the new 'Blair Witch'?

How does a film go from DIY experiment to box-office smash? 'Paranormal Activity' director Oren Peli explains

A gateway to all things 'New Moon'

A gateway to all things 'New Moon'

In anticipation of 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon', Time Out is offering the chance to pick up a limited edition pack with three exclusive magazines and a free poster.

The films that deserve a TV spin-off

The films that deserve a TV spin-off

With Roland Emmerich suggesting he'd like to make a '2012' TV spin-off, we propose some more movie-to-TV serialisations

Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam

Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam

In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations