Australia. Just go and see it

Last night, after a great meal at a local Thai restaurant, we went to see 'Australia' - Baz Luhrman's much hyped and much discussed film epic. Its been called a cross between 'Out of Africa' and 'Gone with the Wind' and having now seen it, I can see why some people might have categorised it this way. The verdict? We liked it. We didn't 'love' it - but we did enjoy it and would recommend it.
Here's what we liked ...
It told the story of life on a cattle station in the Northern Territory during WWII. The setting was magnificent, the landscape inspiring and the sheer difficulty of making a living in the harshness of such a remote part of our country was well depicted. Learning about this part of our history was a plus. The underlying issue of half-caste aboriginal children and the whole stolen generation story was a key part of the story. In 'Australia', 'Nulla' - the half caste aboriginal boy played brilliantly by Brandon Walters, has a happy ending, but many thousands did not. To see the sadness of this policy depicted as a key part of the story was also a plus - we learnt something.
The everpresent 'King George', an aboriginal witch doctor and Nulla's grandfather was a brilliant piece of writing. His presence at key parts of the story gave a whole other dimension to what we 'white fellas' would see as just life. Another plus.
The raid on Darwin by the Japanese and the aftermath was another plus - here was another part of our history that whilst I was aware of, had never experienced. Another plus.
The cinematography was stunning - lots of beautiful magic-hour shots and aerials swooping over the landscape. Mandy (DoP) has a great eye.
Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman? Certainly Hugh is great eye candy for the ladies and whilst I would call myself a Nicole fan, I just couldn't warm to her character, and she was certainly playing a character. I think the problem was the writing, rather than her acting, although as the film moved into the attack on Darwin, her characted certainly became more 'real'.
Its a pity that so many have been so critical - but given the hype, you were expecting to see something magnificent. It wasn't magnificent, but it was another step in Australians telling their own story and that of their land.
Its worth seeing for that reason alone.