Like a pelican that has scooped up too many fish in its oversized bill, the new version of Storm Boy asks its audience to swallow a lot. To the elegant simplicity of Colin Thiele’s 1964 novella has been added the framing device of an elderly Mike Kingley (Geoffrey Rush), now a retired pastoralist, returning to Adelaide to sign off on a new Pilbara-plundering mining deal but getting sidetracked into retelling the story of his upbringing on South Australia’s windswept Coorong to his teenage granddaughter Maddie (Morgana Davies). During the 1950s, young Mike (Finn Little) lives a back-to-nature existence in a beachside shack with his grieving dad (Jai Courtney) and no schooling except what nature throws at him. The lonely kid jumps at the opportunity of friendship with local Indigenous man Fingerbone Bill (Trevor Jamieson), and together they find a nest of pelican chicks orphaned by the trigger-happy hunters who plague the region. Mike adopts the three birds – dubbing them Mr Proud, Mr Ponder and Mr Percival – and sets about raising them, a messy business involving blending fish into a liquid to be injected down the seabirds’ gullets, not to mention being obliged to show them how to fly and catch fish for themselves.Generations of Australian kids have already been reduced to tears by the story of the Mike and the noble Mr Percival thanks to the book’s perennial inclusion on school curricula. Future kids may well be thankful that this new film spells out the story’s themes of authentic nature versus the dangers of civilisation quite so bluntly.

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It’s not without its charms – whoever wrangled the pelicans did a stellar job – but forgoes the nuance of Henri Safran’s 1976 version, a gem of the Australian New Wave. Instead, the narration and constant cuts back to the present day are a distraction, with Rush explaining in capital letters things the original film was able to convey through good filmmaking. That said, you might just cry anyway: the Coorong remains a stirring setting for a coming-of-age tale, and there’s something about the image of a bird in flight that can’t help but elevate the spirit.By.

Storm Boy — Trailer

Catanduanes. A boy and his three pelicansSource:Supplied

There’s no doubt that Storm Boy is a beautiful movie — beautiful to look at.

The rugged coastline of South Australia’s Coorong National Park with its sand dunes, beaches and stunning sunsets looks devastatingly gorgeous on screen.

So much so, hopefully those landscapes won’t be overrun and trodden by careless tourists and enthusiastic Instagrammers when they realise how picture perfect it is.

As a movie, Storm Boy is less impressive.

An adaptation of the classic Australian novella by Colin Thiele, Storm Boy is a nice, family friendly movie with a strong environmental message.

It’s, for the most part, inoffensive and makes for a diverting excursion to the flicks with youngish kids — not too young because it does come in a little long at one hour and forty minutes and there are some “present-day” scenes that will surely lose their interest.

Finn Little has great screen presenceSource:Supplied

Young Mike (Finn Little) lives in a ramshackle house at the edge of nowhere with his widowed father Hideaway Tom (Jai Courtney), who wants to be left alone. It would be idyllic if it wasn’t steeped in tragedy.

One day, while wandering the dunes, Mike comes across three baby pelicans that have been left behind after hunters come tearing through with their rifles and pointless killing.

Mike takes them home and with the help of an Aboriginal man Fingerbone Bill (Trevor Jamieson) keeps them alive through the night. He names them Mr Proud, Mr Ponder and Mr Percival. It’s with Mr Percival that Mike builds the strongest bond.

He teaches them to fish and to fly, fulfilling the function the birds’ mother would have if the hunters weren’t so trigger-happy.

Jai Courtney plays Storm Boy’s gruff and lonely dadSource:Gold Coast Bulletin

Storm Boy used an animatronic puppet of Mr Percival made by Australian artist Paul Trefry and Creature NFX Workshop and it is so convincing, especially on those close-ups. It’s one of the reasons that boy-bird relationship works.

The other is that Little is very good — he appears completely comfortable and has great screen presence. He’s also very sympathetic.

While Storm Boy declined to flesh out the backstories of the adult characters in favour of keeping the focus on Mike and his connection to Mr Percival, it also robs the audience of much needed depth.

Fingerbone Bill, who was played by David Gulpilli in the 1976 adaptation, is particularly short-changed.

As delightful as Mike is and as much as the bond between the boy and nature is sweet, it doesn’t sustain the movie. There needs to be more shading and texture, and not exploring those adult characters is a missed opportunity.

Trevor Jamieson’s Fingerbone Bill was short-changedSource:Supplied

And then there’s the elephant in the room, or the albatross around its neck if we’re staying on theme — Geoffrey Rush.

Rush still has top billing in the film and was likely instrumental to the initial financing. But since he’s been embroiled in a sexual harassment scandal, allegations that he denies, his presence is more burden than benefit.

Rush plays the older version of Mike and he’s the one telling the story to his granddaughter. It’s already an unnecessary framing device even without the fact that every time Rush comes on screen, it bumps and takes you out of the movie.

There is something elemental about Storm Boy — but there’s probably just not enough story to stretch the running time. It’s more like a series of vignettes that soar but bundled together feels flat.

Rating:★★½

Storm Boy is in cinemas from Thursday, January 17

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