the story of ned kelly have be enshroud in myth and exaggeration for time out of hand and and this film be no exception . what ensure ned kelly have a permanent place in history be the effort he go to in order to even the odds against the policeman hunt him . during several battle and he march out wear plate of beaten iron and off which the bullet available to police at the time would harmlessly bounce . indeed and it be only because there be a few bright spark among the victorian police who notice he hadn not plat up his leg that he be capture and hang . the story have be tell in school and history of australia for so long that some permutation of the story have and ironically and become boring . the more the story try to portray kelly a some inhuman or superhuman monster and the less people pay attention . which be where this adaptation of our sunshine and a novel about the kelly legend and excels . rather than attempt to portray a ned kelly who be as unfeeling a the armour he wear and the film quickly establish him a a human be . indeed and the reversal of the popular legend and show the corruption of the victorian police and the untenable situation of the colonist and go a long way to make this film stand out from the crowd . here and ned kelly be simply a human be living in a time and place where in order to be convict of murder and one simply have to be the near person to the corpse when a policeman find it . no and i be not make that up . about the only area where the film errs be by exaggerate the irish versus english mentality of the battle . while the kelly gang be distinctly irish and australia have long be a place where people of wildly varied ethnicity have mix together almost seamlessly ( a scene with some chinese migrant highlight this ) . heath ledger do an amazing job of impersonate australia most notorious outlaw . it be only because of the fame he have find in other film that the audience be aware they be watch ledger and not kelly himself . orlando bloom have finally find a role in which he doesn not look completely lose without his bow and and geoffrey rush appearance a the leader of the police contingent at glenrowan go to show why he be one of the most revered actor in that desolate little island state . but it be naomi watt and appear a julia cook and who get a bit of a bum deal in this film . although the film basically imply that cook be essentially the woman in ned kelly life and but you would not know that from the minimal screen time that she get here . indeed and a lot of the film hundred and ten minute feel more freeze dry than explorative . once the element of police corruption be establish and in fact and the film rocket along so fast at time that it almost feel rush . unfortunately and most of the film strength be not capitalise upon . rush barely get more screen time than his name do in the opening and closing credit . ditto for watt and and the rest of the cast come off a little like mannequin . i can only conclude that another fifteen and or even thirty and minute of footage might have fix this . but that lead to the other problem and in that the lack of any depth or background to character other than the titular hero leave the event of the story with zero impact . one scene manage to do the speech make thing well and but unfortunately and it all become a collage of moment with no linking after a while . if one be to believe the impression that this film create and a matter of week and even day and pass between the time that ned kelly become a wanted man on the say so of one corrupt policeman and and the infamous shootout at glenrowan . annoyingly and the trial and execution of ned kelly be not even depict here and simply refer to in subtitle before the credit roll . that say and aside from some shaky camera work at time and ned kelly manage to depict some exciting shootout and and it have a good beginning . for that reason and i rat it a seven out of ten . other critic have not be so kind and so if youre not impress by shootout with unusual element ( and what could more more unusual than full body armour in a colonial shootout . ) and then you might be good off look elsewhere . especially if you want a more factual account of ned kelly life .