Far Cry 6: PS5 Review

Developed by Ubisoft Toronto

Published by Ubisoft

Platform: PS5

The Far Cry formula isn't one that's deviated for a long while.

And in its sixth iteration, there's no sign of Ubisoft radically shaking up the franchise, and making sure there are surprises around every corner.

There is however, the usual mayhem, degree of stereotyping and utter lunacy that you've come to expect with the series as the carnage is ramped up to 11, the hyper-stylised edges are shifted up to 11, and the series continues to deliver a what it says on the tin approach to the game.

This time around though, there's more of a feeling of a lived in world, and a protagonist that belongs in the Far Cry world and is settled with themselves, rather than an outside force brought in to shake things up.

It's the story of Dani Rojas, a would be guerrilla caught up in the events on the fictional Caribbean island of Yara. Ruled by Giancarlo Esposito's El Presidente, Dani is pulled into the fight when one of her friends is killed and she decides enough is enough for the people of Yara who are sentenced to death by working in the fields and plastered with pesticide for the betterment of a dictatorship.

From there, it's the usual Far Cry story you'd expect - free bases, upgrade weapons, deal to the bad guys and ultimately take out the one leader of it all. There's nothing experimental here, just the exploiting of some usual tropes and the bigger, better, more approach of the next gen technology to make Yara look incredible and the game play as well as it deserves to.

In truth, Far Cry 6 doesn't really care what you think of it. This is a game whose first mission involves you rescuing an arms dealer and his crocodile - a customisable beast that you can inflict on others.

But damn it all, if it's not fun in a disposable and enjoyable fashion. As more weapons open up, the game's propensity for mayhem becomes more obvious and the game's core raison d'etre falls apart under the desire to simply just get to the killing.

Missions to scope out bases may reveal how best to play themselves, but just blundering in all guns blazing and swinging a machete also get the job done. It's a sign Far Cry 6 doesn't take itself seriously as it throws more of everything at the wall - though worryingly, at times, it feels like it's actively encouraging you not to take it seriously too.

There may be more of it in Far Cry, from bigger maps, to the bigger weapons, and there's certainly a heap of disposable fun to be had - but don't be surprised if you leave this game wishing that Ubisoft would do something a little more daring with the series.

NZIFF 2021 Q&A: Michelle Savill, director of MILLIE LIES LOW

How's your 2021 been?

Fun and busy, I’ve been finishing the film and directing commercials.  

Give us the elevator pitch for your film in 10 words

I’ll do it in five. Going down? So is Millie. 

The one moment of your film that stands out

Millie sneaks into her old bedroom: the last thing we shot right before lockdown 2020. Six months later when we got back to filming, we picked up at exactly the same scene and shot her coming out of the room. So much happened in the time between those two shots but Ana and the crew pulled it together seamlessly. 

The one moment of your film that you wish you could have changed

I wouldn’t change anything, the film’s done and we are so proud of it.

The one moment of your film that you think audiences will connect to - and why

That crazed feeling you get when you see the three dots of someone replying on text, but then they disappear.

The one moment of production during a Covid world that saw you enraged by the pandemic

We were halfway through day three of the shoot and our producers halted filming. We were told to pack up and go home as it had become too unsafe, and three days later we went into our first national lockdown. 

The one moment of production during a Covid world that really saw you seize your film's concept and refuse to give up.

When we were in pre-production for the second time, after a tense six months not knowing if we would even be able to finish the film. My appendix burst and I had to stay a week in hospital. We considered postponing the shoot again but I thought, nah fuck it, it’s now or never. Let’s go. 

What's next for you?

I’m co-directing a feature film next year called Workmates with Curtis Vowell, written by Sophie Henderson and produced by Sam Sneddon and Morgan Leigh Stewart.

I’m also attached to direct a TV series called Wall, which I co-created with Sophie Henderson and Chelsie Preston Crayford, produced by Lisa Chatfield and Tim White. Eli Kent and I are writing another feature together too. 

The one film from the 2021 New Zealand International Film Festival that everyone should see - apart from yours

Florian Habicht’s ‘Woodenhead’

NZIFF 2021 Q&A: Shirley Horrocks, director of Juliet Gerrard: Science in Dark Times

How's your 2021 been?

Lockdown in Auckland made it an interesting process to complete my film, ‘Juliet Gerrard: Science in a Dark Time.’ My editor was in a different city so at the end we had to work together remotely. The sound mix and the colour grade had to be done without me being there. Then the Auckland Festival was cancelled! I’m happy that the premiere is still happening, in Wellington, but gutted that I can’t be there! Still, the events of this crazy year are part of the subject of my film.

Give us the elevator pitch for your film in 10 words.

A remarkable woman tackles the challenges of our time.

The one moment of your film that stands out

When Juliet talks with her characteristic sense of humour about how she deals with gender stereotyping.

The one moment of your film that you wish you could have changed

Since one of the challenges that Juliet Gerrard has to deal with in the film is the COVID-19 pandemic it would have been wonderful if the last moment of the film had been the triumphant win for science over the pandemic, although New Zealand has done better than most countries because we’ve had good science advice from people like Juliet.

The one moment of your film that you think audiences will connect to

When Juliet, who had been through what she calls her ‘rough and tumble’ British comprehensive school education, gets into Oxford University on her intelligence only – her school hadn’t taught pupils enough for her to sit an entrance exam – and she encounters the very male “Brideshead Revisited” environment of that venerable institution. NZ audiences will relate to her down-to-earth approach.

The one moment of production during a Covid world that saw you enraged by the pandemic

While I was continually enraged by what Covid was doing to the world, on a production level I had countless shoots postponed because both Juliet and Jacinda Ardern were busy with the pandemic.

The one moment of production during a Covid world that really saw you seize your film's concept and refuse to give up

When I began the film 3 years ago neither Juliet nor I knew that a pandemic was on the horizon. When COVID hit the film I knew I was making a film that was an important historical record.

What's next for you?

I want to arrange screenings in Auckland because the Festival was cancelled here and it’s my home town.

The one film from the 2021 New Zealand International film Festival that everyone should see - apart from yours

The Power of the Dog since it’s a Jane Campion film and I really love her work and an added attraction for me is that our son-in-law Richard Flynn did the sound.

NZIFF 2021 Q&A Signed, Theo Schoon director Luit Bieringa

How's your 2021 been?

Enervating as well as frustrating in the sense of not having had the opportunity to farewell some major players in the NZ cultural scene such as Paratene Matchitt, Billy Apple, Marilyn Webb and the main “actor” in our film , John Perry.

Give us the elevator pitch for your film in 10 words.

Traversing a large cultural canvas through an outspoken individual’s words

The one moment of your film that stands out

Theo “disappearing “ in the sulphuric clouds of his beloved Waiotapu

The one moment of your film that you wish you could have changed

It would have been great to have exposed the full text of his hand drawn last will.

The one moment of your film that you think audiences will connect to

The beauty of the lime shelter country or Theo talking about TRUTH

The one moment of production during a Covid world that saw you enraged by the pandemic

The cancellation of last year’s Festival in the theatrical experience sense

The one moment of production during a Covid world that really saw you seize your film's concept and refuse to give up

There NEVER was a moment, regardless of Covid, that we were going to relent

What's next for you?

A non-film project (a secret)

The one film from the 2021 New Zealand International film Festival that everyone should see - apart from yours

Tis pure guesswork since I won' t have seen it yet!

Bit like choosing a sole winner when the real winner is the NZIFF who in the face of adversity has produced a stunning list of prospects. But hey The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant or Jane’s The Power of the Dog aren’t a bad duo!!!

NZIFF Q&A from Amy Taylor: MILKED director

How's your 2021 been?

Intense! Finishing this film, raising our seven-year-old son, and working on our off-grid property has kept me too busy. But it’s also super exciting to finally be about to share MILKED with the world.

Give us the elevator pitch for your film in 10 words.

Exposing the whitewash of Aotearoa's multi-billion-dollar dairy industry.

The one moment of your film that stands out - and why

The Farmwatch investigation we joined was really powerful. What makes it stand out even more is the realisation that all the devastation from the industry isn’t even necessary. It’s just something that’s entrenched into society, but it doesn’t have to be this way, and with a massive agricultural disruption on the horizon there’s even less reason to try to hold onto it.

The one moment of your film that you wish you could have changed

It was frustrating that no one from Fonterra or Dairy NZ would do an interview, so we could challenge them in person and try and get some answers, especially about the under-reporting of their greenhouse gas emissions. But in the end their refusal to meet with us says everything really - they're very good at projecting an image, but not so good at being honest.

The one moment of your film that you think audiences will connect to - and why

Everyone loves Tom! He’s a dairy farmer we interviewed who’s just a great person, and very easy to connect with. His story is a really important one, showing the need to give farmers more support. A common preconception about MILKED is that we’re anti-farmers, but that’s not true at all – it’s what they’re farming and how they’re doing it that’s the problem. 

Many of them feel stuck with the situation they’re in, and they need help to transition out of dairy so they can use their land in a more productive, ethical and sustainable way.

The one moment of production during a Covid world that saw you enraged by the pandemic

We were lucky with the timing of the pandemic because we’d completed almost all the filming by then, but home-schooling and trying to edit a complex feature documentary definitely tested my resilience!

The one moment of production during a Covid world that really saw you seize your film's concept and refuse to give up

Once the edit started coming together (and I realised that we had something that was worth all the work that had gone into it) I knew we had to keep going, and get the film out to the widest audience possible. Luckily we’ve had incredible support from some key people, including Suzy Amis Cameron and her husband James Cameron, Keegan Kuhn (co-director of Cowspiracy), and Peter Eastwood from the Tanglewood Foundation.

What's next for you?

Taking a breath, it’s been a busy couple of years! I plan on spending time with family and friends, and getting some sailing time in over summer... then possibly making short films again until I’m ready to work on another feature documentary.

The one film from the 2021 New Zealand International film Festival that everyone should see - apart from yours

Patu! A powerful and important film directed by Merata Mita, and edited by Annie Collins, who helped us with the post-production of MILKED.

NZIFF Q&A 2021 - Jan Oliver Lucks, There is no I in Threesome

How’s your 2021 been? 

In general a weird year of course, but personally it has been the best year since 2015! Felt like personal progress was on hold until this film came out and now, suddenly, a lot of life has been crammed into a short 10 months. I am super grateful.

Give us the elevator pitch for your film in 10 words.  Fantasised about having threesomes? What if your partner says “yes”?

The one moment of your film that stands out Using a home-enema-kit in front of Bowie the dog, who is now forever scarred.

The one moment of your film that you wish you could have changed After HBO came on board we made some great changes with them. Especially in the final act. There is one shot we cut (thematically it didn’t make sense anymore) and I miss it. It was Zoe cowering on the 10 meter tower after I had jumped. She looked deflated and cold and alone. A long shot drenched in melancholic beauty.

The one moment of your film that you think audiences will connect to This is a film about a relationship, not polyamory. So I think some of the highs and lows will be very relatable to anyone that has been in a long term relationship.

A moment I love is when I meet my fiancée’s boyfriend for the first time. I think we usually have a sense for when someone is a threat to us as a couple. Someone that could destabilise the “us”. In the film we just bring all that animosity and primal rivalry to the surface. 

The one moment of production during a Covid world that saw you enraged by the pandemic. 

For us this current Delta outbreak is the top-tier bummer. After more than 5 years making this film, we as a team are so excited to finally show our film at home. Losing all of the Auckland screenings and having remaining New Zealand locations run only at 50% capacity. It sucks.

Especially because we are not 100% sure when HBO will release There is No I in Threesome in New Zealand via streaming. I really feel for Marten Rabarts and his team at the NZIFF having to organise and run a film festival in such uncertain times.

The one moment of production during a Covid world that really saw you seize your film's concept and refuse to give up.  We had many hurdles before Covid but we never wavered and got through it all. It has been an incredible team with the astute and experienced leadership of Alexander Behse and Alex Reed. Filmmaking is problem solving. Always.

What's next for you?  I just signed with US based talent agency ICM which is great. They have facilitated meetings and new connections and now I am developing a series about Wilbur and myself trying to become more of an “alpha-male”, only to discover how stupid and harmful that pursuit is.

The one film from the 2021 New Zealand International film Festival that everyone should see - apart from yours.  I am most excited to see Fiona Clark: Unafraid by Lula Cucchiara. Lula is such a positive force for empathy and acceptance… I can’t wait to see that translated into image and sound on the big screen.