The opening written narrative states that "nothing you're about to see is true", with my immediate reaction being, 'so what's the point'? Especially when the title says "True History of the Kelly Gang". That kind of turned me off, but what the heck, I continued watching because I was already invested in the first two minutes and figured it ought to be worth something. Turns out it's a grim and gritty portrayal in the growth and development of Australia's most famous and notorious outlaw. With parents like Ned's (George MacKay), it's not hard to imagine that he could have turned out the way he did, especially after being 'sold' by his mother (Essie Davis) to a grizzled outlaw like Harry Power. Harry is portrayed by Russell Crowe, about as big and fat as he was in 2012's "The Man With the Iron Fists", and not particularly a nice guy here either.
I've already seen a couple films eponymously titled "Ned Kelly", the 1970 version with Mick Jagger!! as the famous outlaw, and the 2013 picture with Heath Ledger in the title role. I can't say whether either one of those films were any better than what you find here, but one thing for sure, the Kelly Brothers weren't running around in ladies dresses pretending to be crazy in order to intimidate and confuse their enemies. Which best friend Joe Byrne (Sean Keenan) might have taken to heart when he took up sleeping with Ned; that was a grim sight.
The story also has Ned fantasizing his role as the leader of the Kelly army by fancying himself an ironclad Monitor, based on the American warship built by Union forces during the Civil War, the design of which made his men look like robots wearing pails on their heads. Obviously believing that he himself was invincible, Ned and his plan to ambush a train load of Victorian lawmen went badly awry, and the berserk outlaw was captured, arrested, imprisoned, and eventually hung for his criminal behavior. The story sort of ends ignominiously right there, leaving one to wonder if anything you just saw was actually true.
I've already seen a couple films eponymously titled "Ned Kelly", the 1970 version with Mick Jagger!! as the famous outlaw, and the 2013 picture with Heath Ledger in the title role. I can't say whether either one of those films were any better than what you find here, but one thing for sure, the Kelly Brothers weren't running around in ladies dresses pretending to be crazy in order to intimidate and confuse their enemies. Which best friend Joe Byrne (Sean Keenan) might have taken to heart when he took up sleeping with Ned; that was a grim sight.
The story also has Ned fantasizing his role as the leader of the Kelly army by fancying himself an ironclad Monitor, based on the American warship built by Union forces during the Civil War, the design of which made his men look like robots wearing pails on their heads. Obviously believing that he himself was invincible, Ned and his plan to ambush a train load of Victorian lawmen went badly awry, and the berserk outlaw was captured, arrested, imprisoned, and eventually hung for his criminal behavior. The story sort of ends ignominiously right there, leaving one to wonder if anything you just saw was actually true.