Ned Kelly and his notorious gang is an incredible part of Australian history. The long-bearded, armour clad criminal and bushranger wreaked havoc for authorities in the mid to late 1800s and earned his place in Aussie folklore.
Naturally, his story is a filmmaker's dream and there are a few biopics about the outlaw.
There have been several movies about Kelly and his gang, with Mick Jagger becoming the bushranger in Ned Kelly in 1970 (which wasn't reviewed well) and Heath Ledger reprising the role in the similarly titled 2003 film (which fared only slightly better than Jagger's).
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But the latest adaptation of Kelly's story has take critics by storm, with True History of the Kelly Gang getting rave reviews.
Starring Russell Crowe as Harry Power, another bushranger who had Ned Kelly serve as an accomplice while he was a teenager, and George MacKay in the titular role, it's already received 100 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes.
IndieWire's Eric Kohn wrote about the film: "The movie hovers in a curious paradox, coming across as both operatic tribute and horrific condemnation, but it's never less than a nasty crime drama with plenty of grimy characters to keep the stakes compelling throughout.
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"Imagine Bonnie and Clyde in the Australian outback - a disturbing glimpse of criminality that provides a subversive taste of its appeal."
Variety's Guy Lodge adds: "After multiple failed attempts to capture the legend of Aussie outlaw Ned Kelly on film, Justin Kurzel's enthralling, unruly vision finally gets it right."
AV Club's A.A. Dowd said: "This new version adopts a veneer of grim and grimy authenticity, even as it takes some liberties with the history its title purports to be truthfully retelling.
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"What's interesting about the film is the way director Justin Kurzel, working from a script by Shaun Grant, relegates all of Kelly's notorious exploits to the final passage of the movie-covering them in montage or eliding them entirely, in favor of the less frequently chronicled events that led up to them."
The film also features Sons of Anarchy's Charlie Hunnam and X-Men: Dark Phoenix's Nicholas Hoult, Essie Davis as Ellen Kelly and Thomasin McKenzie as Mary.
Say what you want about the director's last project, Assassin's Creed, starring Michael Fassbender, this film looks set to be an absolute fan favourite with everyone.
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It's set to premiere at the Toronto International Festival Festival tomorrow and will be released in Australian cinemas in 2020.
Featured Image Credit: Transmission Pictures
Topics: Entertainment, TV and Film, Australia