Rapa Nui

Rapa Nui is what the natives call Easter Island: 'the navel of the world'. Here the Long Ears lord it over the Short Ears, forcing them to carve huge, monolithic statues - the moai - for the gods. Noro (Lee), the Long Ears' champion, will compete against his childhood friend Make (Morales) to decide who will be clan 'birdman' this year - and for the hand of a Short Ear, Ramana (Holt). A labour of love for director Reynolds (Robin Hood), and co-produced by Kevin Costner, this is a curious Hollywood project, but not a successful one. The leads are okay, but the English-language Polynesian dialogue, containing such lines as, 'I don't need this, I have chicken entrails to read,' does not help matters; and the script settles for the kind of cod anthropology found in Disney animations. Shot on Easter Island, the movie looks impressive - the National Geographic in 'Scope - but perhaps the makers should have followed the example of the moai and kept their mouths shut.