The Distant Home is a Aussie kids' movie with a sci-fi twist, from our golden age of TV-The 90s (+ early 2000s). Its plot promises so much high concept stuff that I was really curious to see how a movie on an Australian budget (a kids' production, no less!) would handle it! And I hoped the movie would be good, for patriotic reasons, but also because it just sounded fun! Well I can say this film satisfied on one front at least!
We open with a confusing prologue set near the end of the film (which admittedly fits better on rewatch). There's a slight level of eerie with the dark yellow sky, and just enough oddness to get you curious. Once things flash back, we get off to a good start, as the movie introduces its characters and setting. No sooner than birthday girl Sally enjoys her new skates, she's hit by a car.
The family act quickly and take her to get help. I hope you like hospital settings, because this is where the film spends much of the first hour! Yeahhh, this is the area the film doesn't live up to. We get some good scenes here, and the plot builds nicely, but it feels like only the first act shoulda been here, not most of the film. This is where things hit a bit of a lull for a period.
Once the film finally leaves the hospital, things pick up. It feels like the movie's finally allowed to deliver what it promised. And it's not bad. The backstory is pretty good, and there are some nice details.
As for how much time the movie spends in mundane surroundings, this is manageable. On one hand it could be annoying, for obvious reasons. But on the other it is nice seeing a movie that's both out of this world and down-to-earth! As long as it's done well, mind you. The Distant Home just barely skirts by. It tried my patience with that whole mid-section, but by the end it does live up to expectations the DVD blurb gives.
Our two protagonists are nice kids, going to bat for each-other, with a minimum of bickering. Bobby's never sore that his sister's an alien, and to her credit Sally never considers melting anyone's brains. Despite their ages, they do contribute to the action, instead of just sitting passively while the adults do all the hard work. Their parents are ok, and not too skeptical, while their aunt is a tenacious lawyer, who really gets shit done! The plan she and the kids come up with is pretty neat, and fun to see play out.
Miss Webster is a nice old granny, with a secret. It turns out she's a galactic commando, keeping watch over Sally. She gives the kids enough credit to let them in on the action, but still keeps tight-lipped. Until Sally realises that as princess she outranks Miss Webster, who immediately defers to the girl, even calling her ma'am. This means Sally cuts right through the grown-up 'This isn't the right moment to tell you' crap and gets a straight answer then and there!
The villains for much of the films are the hospital staff, namely a shifty doctor. He's amusingly menacing, with lines like "Hello Bobby. I need your blood." and his dialogue about 'free agents' sounds more like an Orwellian authority figure. One of the leads gets a great comeback after the doc gives one too many false assurances: "Trust me."-"You're a doctor?".
Then there's a pair of feds who show up, subject everyone in sight to polygraphs (then swear them off once they don't get the desired results), and generally cause trouble. As do a swarm of reporters, leading to some funny moments. If you're annoyed at the pushy press, watching this will make you feel better!
And last up are the weirdly named Earthsoids. No idea why they're named that when they're not from Earth. They too take the form of little old ladies, but pack a mean punch. Their weakness is pretty convenient and easy, but makes sense, and it's fun watching them get their asses kicked.
The climax is fairly small-scale, but enjoyable. The movie ends on an alright point, although unsatisfying in some ways. It's a bit open ended, but conclusive enough. Though there's no comeuppance for the various human villains. It would've been nice to see a follow-up to continue the story in the stars, but let's be real, there's a reason the film ends where it does.
The effects do their best, but are pretty cheap, like a cup glued to a dishplate representing an alien gizmo. There are some neat looking goggles, and enough pairs to go round. Then there are all the CG effects, which are...primitive, to say the least! The yellow sky isn't exactly convincing, but it's forgivable for a movie like this, and looks cool anyway!
The visuals for the good aliens' true forms is good, if a bit goofy, and the blinding light shows juuuust enough off, without showing too much and spoiling the effect. The bad aliens' true form is a bit dull, but barely seen. And last up is a funny montage of outer space action, the only time in the entire movie where Distant Home really gets cosmic. It...looks how you'd expect! It does run the risk of being special effects nonsense, but I appreciate the thought.
Just because the film's pretty low on fantastical imagery, doesn't mean it's a slouch
directing. The hospital chase is filmed from a neat angle/location, and there are cool visuals, like the evil old ladies walking through an almost apocalyptic looking suburb, or the serene alien princess at the end.
The cast do a good job all round. Marnie Reece-Wilmore and Dene Kermond are nice young leads, and don't bite off more than they can chew. Melissa Jaffer gets across her character's alien coolness, while also being a fairly traditional old granny. Diane Smith and Grant Dodwell are fine, as is Gabrielle Hammond, delivering an amusingly evil stare at one point. And Graeme Blundell turns in a good performance as the villain, as do others.
The Distant Home is a good time, as long as you know the level of onscreen sci-fi it gets into. It's never boring, has plenty of fun moments, and good enough for any Aussie to be slightly proud of!...
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