Load of rubbish!!

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

Family of criminals goes down the drain on a path of violence. Really that's all there's to it. "Animal Kingdom" is a barrage of violence upon violence. It is structured and acted in a way that makes it feel as if it were a true story, because the performances by the actors are so believable. I read the notes and it seems to be partly inspired by true events. The almost documentary approach in filming hightened this feeling of watching a "fly on the wall" documentary. All this realism made me react intenser to the characters than I would normally do.For example I really loathed the guy who was the head of the family, because of his inbread instinct to solve any problem with a killing spree. What he did was just plain repulsive killing for revenge and to silence witnesses to his crimes. No fun to watch. Fascinating nonetheless. Dont watch this if you like to see some heroic type of violence. The type of violence in "Animal Kingdom" is like a kick in your guts. Director David Michod has got a knick for making movies full of violence that make me feel depressed. Still it is a very good portrayal of what violence does: it breeds more violence. And for that quality and for the real life portrayal by the actors I highly recommend this picture. David Michod's films are the best antidote for the usual hollywood glorification of violence. 8 stars.

Loved this film. Just didn't understand, if the cops were closely watching Baz (prior to murdering him), how they didn't see Pope (who they were said to really want above anyone) who was with him at the time. Also, It was too obvious J's girl going to the house after they'd split. It didn't need that as a tipping point for J, although it did set up the finale. Nit-picking I know, but it irked me. Otherwise a surprisingly intelligent, taught, and suspenseful thriller. Even though the characterisation was obvious, it worked to move the film along. I was glad it didn't fall into cliché with J looking up the the detective as a father figure. Acting was the stand-out feature. Excellent throughout the cast. Glad I found this gem.

Everything that happens in this film is wrong. 1) The one good brother that wants to exit his family's life of crime is MURDERED by cops in a grocery store parking lot, which leads the other brothers to exact revenge on them. Now, if you're going to base a film on the investigation of these 2 cops' murders, you have to make me want to see the killers brought to justice. The motivation isn't there because you feel that the cops should've rightly been killed. 2)When the paranoid uncle sees the cops coming for him, he does the absolutely most illogical thing he could think of: grab his shotgun and run directly into a wide open field where he is subsequently shot and killed. All he had to do was nothing and he would've be aquitted of the crime just like his other 2 brothers. 3)The girlfriend goes to the lead's house and doesn't even confront the uncles about having the boy break up with her. Why the hell did you go over there then?!4) The lead runs from a cop who blatantly tries to kill him while in witness protection, and he doesn't go straight to Guy Pierce, the ONE GUY who wants to help him and tell him about it?5)While being transported to trial, a cop directly points his gun at the lead and dry fires it for NO REASON. I shouldn't have to go into why this shouldn't have happened. 6)The lead undermines the police's entire investigation to get his uncle's off, which makes you not care about him AT ALL anymore, or his scumbag family. He did it to murder his eldest uncle himself, and then embraces his grandmother lovingly who, for the previous 15 minutes, was trying her damnedest to have him killed. He also chose to spare his gay(?) uncle, who was also complicit in his girlfriend's murder! He just sat there and watched it happen!I really could go on but i'm nearing the 1k word limit and I think you get the point.I really wanted to enjoy this movie going in; it's competently shot, the actors are good (besides the dry performance by the lead), cinematically it is top notch. But everything that happens in it is wrong, and it infuriated me to the point where I had to write this review about it.

"Animal Kingdom" is a movie which shows us a seventeen year old child who is trying to survive from his criminal family in which he necessarily entered when his mother died from overdose of drugs.Guy Pearce who played as Detective Senior Sgt Nathan Leckie makes a really good interpretation as the good guy who is trying to save this child (Joshua 'J' Cody) from his criminal family. James Frecheville also makes a good interpretation played as Joshua 'J' Cody the seventeen year old child.In this movie we can observe and think what people can do to make some easy money and what are the consequences that they have to the innocent people of a family for example. I think that "Animal Kingdom" shows us these things with the eye of reality and makes us think more some things of life.