Injecting a much-needed boost of fun in the Australian film landscape, Rough Stuff is a highly entertaining, full throttle action adventure with much personality to boot.

The bulk of Australian movies of late can be separated into three distinct categories: the depressing drama, the quirky comedy, and the gory horror movie. Missing from the landscape all too often is the action adventure, that genre responsible for some of Australia’s biggest successes such as Mad Max, Crocodile Dundee and The Man from Snowy River. One would think that with cinema goers spending their hard earned on all manner of exported action adventure franchises, that someone would attempt an Australian alternative. Thankfully, Jonathan Adams does just that with Rough Stuff, a rip-roaring modern day western that exchanges horses from 4WD’s and brings plenty of charm to match its action.

The film follows a group of “rovers” (that is Australian for outback nomads) – Buzz (Gareth Rickards), Abe (Vincent Andriano) and Scraps (Sam Gilssan) – who agree to transport an activist group through treacherous Australian terrain in exchange for the location of a legendary lost treasure. When ulterior motives are revealed, it is up to Buzz and his fellow rovers to make things right.

With an adventurous spirit in tow and Australia’s unique bushland to play with, Adams has created a tremendously entertaining film filled with memorable characters and high stakes. The scenes of 4WD’s roaring over unforgiving land are beautifully choreographed, shot end edited, and effectively play support to, rather than overwhelm, an engrossing story and characters that are filled with personality.

This is especially true of Buzz, a character with the potential to be an icon of Australian cinema, played by Gareth Richards with a regular guy personality blended with an adventure hero swag akin to the likes of heyday Mel Gibson and Harrison Ford. Adams’ script is filled with rich characterisations, and dialogue exchanges, and classic one liners that should, nay, will tickle the funny bone of the hardest of action comedy fans.

The promise of more adventures at the films conclusion ought to plant a smile on many of us Australian film fans, looking for a high-octane alternative to the usual arthouse fare that has taken over the industry. In the end, it surely seems some Rough Stuff was sorely needed to shake things up in a film industry that takes itself a little too seriously.