Tatau
Ink too deep
Release Date: OUT NOW!
2015 | 15 | DVD Creator: Richard Zajdlic Cast: Joe Layton, Theo Barklem- Biggs, Shushila Takao, Temuera Morrison, Cian Elyse White, Alexander Tarrant
For one episode,
BBC Three’s Supernatural Death In Backpackers’ Paradise looks like it could be a really good show. Oddly, that episode is neither the first nor the last.
Usually, derivative old tosh like this either starts off promisingly then nosedives, or suddenly perks up in the last episode, way too late to alter its descent into TV obscurity. Tatau does neither. It starts off as it ends, as a feeble, listless supernatural thriller with little to offer other than a legion of half- dressed, good- looking twentysomethings.
If you’ve ever seen any supernatural children’s shows which start with the kids going on holiday somewhere new and strange, you’ve seen Tatau before. Sure, there are more rude words and there’s a smidgen more violence but essentially this is identikit juvenile spooky drama, somewhere between Scooby- Doo and Century Falls and not as fun or inventive as either.
A backpacker with a mysterious tattoo ( he just liked the design) travels to the Cook Islands with his comedy sidekick mate where, one drug- induced hallucination later, he becomes involved in a Maorithemed murder mystery. What follows is the white guy continually trying to convince the victim in his vision that someone is going to kill her, but failing because he’s acting like a crazed lunatic. There’s a Maori Obi- Wan urging him on, a bit of romance, a nutty vicar, biker gangs and lots of running about, but the plot barely moves forward for episodes on end.
Tatau has one saving grace: the comedy sidekick is actually funny and he’s not a geek, just a lascivious yob. In episode six he’s in a coma, and becomes a spirit to help out his handsome but charm- free mate. Suddenly, for 40 minutes, the show becomes Randall And Hopkirk ( Deceased) Do Club 18- 30 and it’s genuinely amusing.
Sadly it’s nowhere near enough to make up for the other seven episodes.
None. Dave Golder Tatau executive producer Rob Pursey used to be the bassist in twee ’ 80s indie- pop bands Tallulah Gosh and Heavenly.