For as long as I can remember I’ve wanted Australia to produce it’s own sci-fi franchise to rival that of Star Trek or Doctor Who. Heck, even though I am not a big fan of superheroes, I’d settle for an Aussie version of Batman. Just something that allowed us to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our American and British cousins, and proudly declare that we too can produce high-concept, effects-laden masterpieces. Sadly, all we ever seem to get stuck with is character studies and quirky comedies. Which are fine, don’t get me wrong - but there is a part of me that hungers for more. Griff the Invisible, therefore, is a movie that has me stuck in two worlds - on the one hand, it’s a great quirky comedy that studies that characters of Griff and Melody (so nothing new there), but it also has some wonderful high-concept sequences in them that are driven by some quite impressive visual effects (something that is new in the Australian film landscape of the 21st Century). So did I actually enjoy it? Well, yes, yes I did. Save for the second last scene in the entire film, there’s very little one can fault in Griff the Invisible.
Griff (Ryan Kwanten) is a socially awkward office worker who spends his days being the butt of office practical jokes, but by night becomes a superhero charged with protecting the innocent and upholding the law. He fights crime from his secret base within his apartment, and things seem to be going fine until he meets Melody (Maeve Dermody), his brother’s new girlfriend. She too has a secret, in that she is a young scientist attempting to find a way to project matter through solid objects. As these two strange people are drawn together, and a plan is hatched to create the world’s first true suit of invisibility, we see Griff’s world begin to unravel. But can Griff see what is truly in front of him before his life goes down the toilet? Or will true love be cast aside in the name of fighting crime?
It’s an interesting script, to be sure, and one that demands a repeat viewing just to pick up on all of the nuances present within the text. Certainly the first half of the movie contains a lot of visual and auditory misdirection that it’s clear a lot of thought has gone into the creation and realisation of this film. The text explores the same life that people like Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne lead, but from a very different perspective - one in which things are more real than any other type of superhero movie, but at the same time nowhere near as real. This is a thin line to tread, it is true, but Writer / Director Leon Ford manages to pull it off with an almost spotless approach. It’s only the second last scene of the film where I think the ball is dropped, and it is the only time you’re not entirely sure on what is happening. But then I guess part of the magic of this film is that by that stage you probably aren’t meant to care - you’re just positioned to accept the ride and get on board for the resolution. Certainly it feels sloppy, and a bit of a cop-out, but overall the construction of this film is excellent, so well done to Leon Ford for managing it so well.
It also examines in a subtle way the concept of mental health issues, and while it’s never made expressly clear if either Griff or Melody do have an issue, there are hints throughout. The material is handled in a sensitive way, such as it should, but I do think it was made too subtle on occasion. By this I mean it’s never made clear what the problems these two were dealing with really were. But then maybe that was the point - maybe we didn’t need to know exactly what was going on to still enjoy the characters, and the movie? Food for thought, at any rate…
Ryan Kawnten is perfect casting as Griff. He has a real air of vulnerability about him that makes the office place bullying feel so real and authentic. At the same time he also manages to realise the superhero sequences with a lot of macho ness and physicality that is evidently missing from the daytime Griff performance. Of course he’s enhanced by some great slow-motion cinematography, but without such a good performance there wouldn’t be much for the camera to capture. Maeve Darmody is equally as good as Melody, and I hope she has a very promising career ahead of her. She is quite the star. And, since this is an Australian film, it was lovely to see some stalwarts of Australian film & television appear in the form of Marshall “Police Rescue” Napier and Heather “Spellbinder” Mitchell appear as Melody’s parents. The casting was uniformly excellent, and it’s nice to see local talent getting a chance to appear in such a high-profile movie.
Right at the start of this review, I lamented the lack of an Australian sci-fi franchise to rival the overseas imports. Griff the Invisible goes someway towards proving that given half a chance, we could certainly produce our own material that would rival what can be produced in either America or England. The production values present in Griff the Invisible are generally very good, with some great location work in and around Surry Hills in Sydney. All of the cliches of the superhero genre are present, and used to great effect - the smoky alleyways in which overdressed bad guys engage with our hero during some tightly-edited fight sequences were a joy to behold, and made me yearn for more. While this was a cheap movie, coming in on budget at around $2.7m, it doesn’t ever look cheap. The select number of visual effects shots are all used when they are needed most for the narrative, and never seem overblown or over used. OK, so they might not rival the latest Hollywood big-screen blockbuster, but they certainly stand up as being on par with what we’re seeing on the small screen.
Overall, I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed Griff the Invisible. It’s a lovely story, featuring lovely characters, performed by a great cast and filmed by someone with a clear passion and talent for the art form. We need to support local Australian cinema, particularly unusual material such as this, if only to ensure that we get more of it in the future. Griff the Invisible bodes well for the future of Australian cinema, and I hope it doesn’t end up being yet another blip on the radar. Let’s see some people start to follow through on the promise this film holds, eh?