There are two versions of Utu. It was originally released in New Zealand with a 118-minute runtime. I have the American version, which only has 104 minutes.

I bought Utu because the story parallels the story of Native Americans in our country. Wasn't I in for one heck of a disappointment! They devoted a large portion of the film to the lead character’s imagined court martial. He plays it out several ways in his mind, but always with the same scene and him sitting in the same place -- just with a different person talking. You'll be watching the story and poof! You see him sitting in front of the court martial judge. It will drive you nuts.

The first time he did his "flight of imagination," I couldn't figure out how we got to the court martial. I did not think I had dozed off, but that seemed to be the only explanation. I rewound the tape. There it was ... poof ... an abrupt leap from scene A to scene B.

The first three times the "poof" happened, it was quite startling. After that, I was ready for the crazy movie to go anywhere and do anything. I was also at the point where I had lost interest, no longer cared what happened in New Zealand (as long as I did not have to see a court martial about it), and just wanted to go to sleep.

The story is set in 1870 New Zealand. The English are "colonizing" the island and performing rampant ethnic genocide on the natives -- the Maori tribe. Te Wheke (Anzac Wallace) is a Maori serving with the British army.

Col. Elliot is the British equivalent of the American Col. Chivington. (If you are not familiar with Chivington's stance on Native Americans, please watch Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman.) Elliot hates the Maori and is determined to exterminate them.

Lt. Scott (Kelly Johnson) is a white New Zealand native caught in the middle. Although he does sympathize with the Maoris, he is obligated to follow the orders of his commander.

When the Brits raid Te Wheke's village and slaughter his family, he deserts from the military and follows his tribe's traditions and beliefs. His tribe believes a must seek "utu" -- revenge. As with any native custom, there are specific and strict rituals to follow and ceremonies to be performed.

Te Wheke has his face scarred and tattooed -- one of the most dramatic scenes in the movie -- and gets a small band of rebels together.

In one of his first raids, he leaves the man of the house for dead, but he is not. Unfortunately, his wife is. That man, like Te Wheke, is determined to avenge the death of his beloved wife. He comes after Te Wheke with an almost-insane bloodlust.

Now, this part of the movie gets funny. Te Wheke ends up shooting that guy twice, but he does not die. Te Wheke cannot understand why he cannot kill this man.

Instead of dying, the guy builds a 4-barrel gun that you have to see to believe. I laughed until I cried when the guy tried out the gun. It is a scene that you must see. The gun was not so bad when he shot one barrel at a time; but, when he pulled all four triggers at once ... it broke bad in a big way!

This movie is a tough one to absorb on the first viewing. You pretty much have to watch it a second time to get it. All those imagination flashes are a royal pain and nuisance, while adding absolutely nothing to the movie except to let the viewer know that Te Wheke is worried about a court martial. There were far better ways to do that.

Otherwise, the movie is fair. All the parts were as well-played as the writing allowed. I especially liked Johnson's portrayal of the guy caught in the middle with all the conflicting emotions. He is frequently in conflict with himself and it is interesting to watch him play out those emotions. He does a fine job of letting the viewer know what he is thinking and how he is feeling. He stands out from the rest of the cast in that respect and does a much better job of conveying emotion.

Utu is an extremely complicated, deep movie. Personally, I feel that it was needlessly complicated by faulty writing. Clarity of writing can make or break a movie. In this case, it did the latter. I cannot fairly and honestly advise you to get this movie. While the subject is interesting, the movie really is not, overall.