It's 1870. 16 year old Jay Cavendish (Kodi Smit-McPhee) is alone leaving Scotland to chase after his love Rose Ross (Caren Pistorius) into the American West. He encounters native villagers who are hunted by Indian fighters. Silas Selleck (Michael Fassbender) rescues him from the ruffians. Silas insists on traveling with the naive boy. Silas discovers that Rose and her father have a $2000 bounty on their heads. Payne (Ben Mendelsohn) leads a ragtag team looking to take the bounty.
It's a New Zealand/UK western. It's a slow burning road trip. There are big explosive scenes but mostly it's quiet. Kodi Smit-McPhee and Michael Fassbender are a low energy duo. The robbery of the general store is quite intense. The action scenes are shot stylistically rather than with intensity. I didn't really get involved with the characters but there are a couple of good scenes. It's the first full-length feature for director/writer John Maclean.
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