David Gulpilil, who played Fingerbone in the 1976 original, also makes a cameo. The reboot features universally good performances, especially by Little and Rush. However, Michael’s gentle plea for Maddie to put her relationship with her father ahead of their political disagreements is a welcome, if understated, message. A pagan ceremony is shown, twice, in a positive light, and lying is presented as a fair way to promote an important cause. The new version spins this into an environmentalist message that capitalism threatens the world. In the original story, young Michael learns lessons about life, death and nature. This reboot fails, because it reduces a beloved childhood story to a brief for Green political advocacy. This alone would make the pelican tale hard to swallow for anyone above age eight. Somehow, with all the special effects available in 2019, the reboot makes it even harder to believe and adds a few more dubious elements to boot. The original movie turned around a particularly unrealistic scene. Will Michael sabotage his own company’s actions or let the “climate criminals” kill the birds he worked to protect? Will the family ever reconcile? Malcolm’s 17-year-old daughter, Maddie, has become so obsessed with environmentalist activism that she openly hates her father and calls her grandfather “gutless” when he refuses to intervene. An elderly Michael (played in the modern day by Geoffrey Rush) has retired and turned his corporation over to his son-in-law, Malcolm, who wants to drill in an area that will destroy the pelicans’ nesting grounds. Sadly, the 2019 version of STORM BOY surrounds this story with a new narrative arc.
At a pivotal moment, one of the birds repays their kindness in an unforgettable, if unrealistic, way. Percival, nurses them to health, and tearfully releases them. Michael adopts the three birds, names them Mr. One day, the lonely boy meets an aborigine named Fingerbone, who shows him three baby pelicans whose mother has been killed by hunters. The widower, nicknamed Hideaway Tom, takes his son on fishing trips during the day and homeschools him at night. In the 1950s, young Michael Kingley (Finn Little) and his anti-social father live alone in Coorong, South Australia.
The original story by Thiele is straightforward. The movie also presents aboriginal, earth-based spirituality in a positive light while taking the Lord’s Name in vain, and depicts lying as an acceptable means to get ahead. Elements of the beloved original story still shine, but this version waters down the emotion with an environmentalist plot set in the modern day. The reboot features good performances, touching scenes and contains a welcome plea for families to put relationships ahead of political disagreements. The 2019 version of STORM BOY transforms a heartwarming story about childhood and nature into environmentalist political advocacy. It is based on an original novella by Colin Thiele, which is a staple of Australian children’s literature that had already been made into a well-received movie in 1976. REVIEW: STORM BOY is a coming-of-age movie about the special relationship between a boy living in remote Australia and the three baby pelicans he raises. INTENDED AUDIENCE: Older children to adults PRODUCERS: Michael Boughen, Matthew StreetĮXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Robert Slaviero, Geoffrey Rush, Christopher Figg, Robert Whitehouse, Justin Deimen, Sherman Ng STARRING: Geoffrey Rush, Finn Little, Jai Courtney, Trevor Jamieson, Morgana Davies, Chantal Contouri, Erik Thomson
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