I was never a fan of Priscilla Queen of the Desert, finding it far too in love with itself to enjoy as a whimsical comedy and not serious enough to generate empathy for the characters. I moreover didn't know Woop Woop's common heritage with Priscilla (though it takes all of about 10 minutes to guess it). So it was without any heightened expectations that I sat down to watch the flick. It wasn't a waste of an hour and 45 minutes, but it wasn't exactly the most memorable afternoon I spent either. Frankly I didn't think it compared unfavorably to Priscilla, but that's not a big compliment.
Basically, all the same problems that plagued Priscilla infect Woop Woop too: an overlong, meandering plot; thinly drawn characters, the assertion of camp as both aesthetic and anesthetic, and a general infantilism of vision. Apparently Cannes agrees with the first assessment, because the director cut the film drastically after its screening. As for the obsession with camp, maybe it's just a gay thing, but I don't think camp works when it's a primary aesthetic mode. For example, Woop Woop shows us the
denizens camping it up to camp classics like The Sound of Music, which is fine; but the thing that allows a film like SOM to play as camp is that it wasn't filmed that way.
Woop Woop, by contrast, like Priscilla before it, puts the camp right into the film from the outset. This leaves us nothing of our own to add. Instead, the characters largely appear to be mugging for the camera. Over time, this grows wearying.
This is not to say the movie is without its moments. The Australian outback is filmed spectacularly, and the actors do a good job with th limited roles they are given. But if it's outlandish Aussie antics you are after, check out any of the "Mad Max" films. You will get a bona fide camp experience to boot.
Basically, all the same problems that plagued Priscilla infect Woop Woop too: an overlong, meandering plot; thinly drawn characters, the assertion of camp as both aesthetic and anesthetic, and a general infantilism of vision. Apparently Cannes agrees with the first assessment, because the director cut the film drastically after its screening. As for the obsession with camp, maybe it's just a gay thing, but I don't think camp works when it's a primary aesthetic mode. For example, Woop Woop shows us the
denizens camping it up to camp classics like The Sound of Music, which is fine; but the thing that allows a film like SOM to play as camp is that it wasn't filmed that way.
Woop Woop, by contrast, like Priscilla before it, puts the camp right into the film from the outset. This leaves us nothing of our own to add. Instead, the characters largely appear to be mugging for the camera. Over time, this grows wearying.
This is not to say the movie is without its moments. The Australian outback is filmed spectacularly, and the actors do a good job with th limited roles they are given. But if it's outlandish Aussie antics you are after, check out any of the "Mad Max" films. You will get a bona fide camp experience to boot.