Review: The Hunter (2011)

The Hunter is an Australian film starring Willem Dafoe, and based on a book of the same name written by Julia Leigh.  It is directed by Daniel Nettheim.  'R' rating is for language, and brief violence - I would consider more like a PG-13.
**spoiler alert**
Martin David (Dafoe), that we quickly discern is a gun-for-hire, is contracted by a biotech company called Red Leaf to goto Tasmania and collect DNA and organ samples from the supposedly extinct Tasmanian Tiger.  Red Leaf's contact states they have good information that there is at least one or more alive.  Upon completion, they also want Martin to destroy any other Tasmanian Tiger specimens so no one else can also get the valuable DNA.

Martin heads to Tasmania and is set up through a local contact named Mindy (Sam Neill) to room with a family in relative vicinity to the wilderness where the Tiger has been sighted.  The family consists of a single mother named Lucy (Frances O'Connor) and 2 children named Katie and Jamie.  The house is a mess and has no electricity due to a broken generator.  Lucy lays in bed all day, taking some sort of pills, depressed over the loss of her husband Jarrah, gone since the previous year and presumed dead.  Martin, though frustrated, deposits his belongings and packs gear for his first trek out into the wilderness.  An important note - no one locally knows Martin is there for the Tiger, he is using the cover that he is a naturalist studying Tasmanian Devils while he conducts his hunt.
Martin is soon driven out to the woods by Mindy and while conversing he learns several things: Jarrah was working for Red Leaf too; Mindy "helps" the Armstrong family and is supplying Lucy with the meds; also that the local population is wary of outsiders for multiple reasons.  So Martin (now by himself), using a map, hunts through various areas of the Tasmania wilderness for 12 days at a time, and then returns to the Armstrong house for a few days to re-stock his supplies in between each outing. 
On one of his return trips he fixes the generator and tells the kids to assist Lucy getting off the pills, which they agree to do.  By his next return trip she is seemingly sober and the household is returning to some sense of normalcy while we see Martin is slowly becoming somewhat attached to the three.  Lucy later reveals to Martin that Jarrah was hunting the Tiger for Red Leaf, but he decided instead to turn away from them to support the environment - which we are supposed to figure led to his demise.
Now the movie turns dark... Martin on his next trek out locates Jarrah's body (on an anonymous tip) and buries him.  He also eventually locates the den of the Tiger and evidence that it is alive and still living here, but does not see the creature.  Martin is soon attacked by another mercenary who was sent by Red Leaf, but Martin is able to kill him instead.  Martin discovers the bad guy had been at the Armstrong house, so now he wants to conclude this "mission".  He finally locates the Tasmanian Tiger, shots it and then cremates the body.  Martin returns to the Armstrong house to find it was attacked and set on fire by the aforementioned mercenary (before he made his way out to the wilderness to find Martin).  Lucy and Katie were killed, while Jamie escaped.
The movie ends with Martin calling Red Leaf and informing them that what they were looking for is gone forever, and that he will also be gone, too.  Martin then finds Jamie at a boarding school, presumably to adopt him. 

Thoughts and Recommendation:
The Hunter is more of an indie style drama than it is an action movie, even though my description of Martin cavorting about in the woods may conjure that image.  The pace is somewhat slow and deliberate using the Tasmanian landscape and Martin's calculated independent tracking to fill the minutes.  Martin's interactions with the Armstrongs, Mindy, and some of the locals is also very thoughtful and nuanced.  The only real "action" I would point to is when the other Red Leaf mercenary shows up and he and Martin have a confrontation eventually leading to Martin shooting him in what amounts to self-defense.   
This is a beautifully filmed movie, as it was actually shot in Tasmania.  The scenery alone honestly made me want to travel there.  It is also not often that a movie can prompt me to want to research elements, but after seeing this film, I immediately wanted to know more about the history of the Tasmanian Tiger and if there has been actual sightings.
Dafoe shines in his role; his transformation from the "loner" into a more "attached" human-being was subtle but great to watch.  Neill and O'Connor despite limited screen time were both excellent choices in their supporting roles.  (Sam Neill is a favorite actor of mine as it stands.)
When all is done the topics of conservation, hunting, animal extinction, human interaction, and generally the philosophy of where of each of us are in the natural world versus the technological "greedy" society we now live in - all come into light.  I highly recommend it.