G'day, mates! Since "Tribe" was an Australian production, and Kobas
aren't native to the southern continents, we have a guest reviewer! Thanks
to Nic from Down Under for the review!
Sound familiar?
It's not really, but seeing Antonio Sabato jr (shirtless quite often for all who are interested) in an untamed environment causes one to remember! He receives top billing so it's surprising we don't see more of him in the miniseries.
Antonio plays Jack, the strong, silent shiphand with a traumatic past that leads him to have the occasional outburst of anger. However, we also learn that he has a heart of gold and it's not long before he's elected leader of the small band of castaways. Antonio has a couple of cute scenes that will make his fans' hearts melt - a declaration of love, a sweet wedding, a baby - but these are only brief interludes in the story of Tribe. The very nature of Antonio's character causes him to somewhat fade into the background.
One gets the impression that a woman wrote this mini-series: by the end, the only remaining characters are a bunch of dead pirates, two pretty boys and compelling female characters. It is perhaps their stories which are most interesting: Lucille who learns of the warrior heart, Ming-Tae who must overcome her tragic past, the Sister who is a rock to them all, a young confused woman, and a widow torn in two.
The scenery was incredible, and no, I'm not just talking about Antonio! Tribe is set on your traditional tropical island with the palm trees, lagoon, wildlife - it is a paradise of its own. (Airlie Beach, north Queensland, Australia, I believe.) Add to the scenery the appropriate Caribbean style music (except for the terrible arrangements which accompanied the action sequences) and quite a mood is set.
Enough about the mood. The story itself was confused. Vicious pirates who had no good reason for their actions were mixed with survival, an island full of traps left over from the war, and a woman who begins to contact ghosts of the past. Several intimate encounters occur, yet most of these don't really advance the story one bit. Perhaps time-fillers were needed?
It comes down to tribal warfare and death, all nasty things. Still, it doesn't quite have the impact that such a full story should. It takes place over a year and "Tribe" would be much more suited to a series. A series telling of survival in a strange world. ;)
All in all, I'll give it three and a half gold coins out of five - two
for the story, one for the scenery, and an extra half for the lovely sight
of ASjr.
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