Film Reviews

Cane Toads: The Conquest

• Rating:
• Director: Mark Lewis
• Starring: Neil Young
• Details: Australia / 90mins (15A).

An update of sorts of his 1988 documentary Cane Toads: An Unnatural History, Mark Lewis' Cane Toads: The Conquest is a fun watch, but even at only 90 minutes the director finds his documentary stretched for material.
Cane Toads are a problem. From only the 102 that were introduced to Australia in the 1930s there are over a billion today. They are considered pests: not only are they ugly creatures, the haters say, they are a danger to pets. Emitting a poison when attacked, the cane toad can defend itself from the lowly household dog to crocodiles (some reckon their pet dogs are addicted to the hallucinatory effect when they lick the toad's back). They seem to be impervious to environmental perils that befall even indigenous animals too. They weren't always a problem: after research and positive results in Hawaii and Puerto Rico, the cane toad was shipped into the country to battle the cane beetle, which was laying waste to the sugar cane fields, but it paid no heed to the beetle and now runs amok across a vast area of Northern Australia.
An odd little documentary, director Mark Lewis opens Cane Toads like it's a horror movie along the lines of Night Of The Lepus: we're in a murky swamp somewhere in South America some 1.5 million years ago. It's dark and fog obscures what could be a pair of beady eyes lurking just above the surface of a pond. Suddenly, we're looking at a toad who stares directly at the camera - it waits a moment before leaping at us (this would have been fun in 3D, but unfortunately I only saw it in 2D. Boo-urns).
Lewis then dispenses with the horror vibe but keeps a quirky one throughout, interviewing charismatic people who all have different feelings towards the amphibians. Some, like farmers, hate with a passion. Others enjoy taking the toads out - they are encouraged to be inventive in their exploits with golf clubs, flamethrowers, rockets and any other weapon they can get their hands on. Some are dedicated to their extinction: calling it a 'war', the toads' encroachment on their area is an 'invasion', likening the diehard toad itself to a 'commando'. Then there's the environmentalist laments that they are now a 'scapegoat' and 'they have a right to exist'.
Some love them, though, and some capture them so they can stuff them to star in their travelling shows. Some keep them as pets. Statues are built. Some record-breaking toads - like Dairy Queen and Big Bette - become minor celebrities.
It's all fun and bubbly stuff but the quirky nature soon loses its appeal, as Cane Toads succumbs to repetition; there are only so many kooky characters Lewis can interview before they start to blend into each other. The 3D aspect might have induced more enjoyment but in 2D it's a regular TV documentary.

Review by Gavin Burke