There's a new star in Australia who may not yet have a trailer on set but he's well fed and watered and some would say reasonably venerated.

He's the cane toad, so often reviled since he was brought to Queensland shores and failed to save the cane, and then had the audacity to multiply ridiculously and push out indigenous species.

Having seen his life in Mark Lewis's movie Cane Toads: The Conquest, you may never view him in the same light again.  

This documentary in 3D has it all, from eye-popping effects, to humorous tales from people who have had the closest contacts with the cane toad.

They are scientists, farmers, environmentalists, conservationists, politicians, and everyday people who either love or loathe them, from the girl who had cane toads for pets to a man who stuffed them and made them into a travelling show. 

There's the story of a dog that nearly died from contact with them, and another dog, a serial offender, that chooses to get high from them.   

It's not only the stories in the documentary that are so interesting but the original way in which they are told, with humour, with passion, and with music. 

Yes, there's romantic music when they are mating, and their golden eyes are being spoken about, to trippy music when the dog, Dobby, experiences an LSD moment having licked a cane toad.  

With the adventure/quest type music, you'll even be tempted to hurrah the cane toad as he hops through electric fences, evades the cane toad busters in western Australia, and hops onwards into his future.

It makes you baulk when cane toads are trapped or you hear angry people talk of how they shall be killed.  

It's a mass genocide you hear yourself mutter - it's not their fault they are ugly and warty, and like a lot of sex, and are not wanted by other species.

At other times you might find yourself overcome with horror (helped by suitably dramatic music) at the sheer numbers and distance covered by these superhero/anti-hero enigmas.

This is Mark Lewis's second movie about cane toads.

The first in 1988 became a cult classic. 

This one is destined to do at least as well and deserves to do a whole lot better. 

>>Four out of five stars.    

>>Cane Toads: The Conquest opens at Cairns Cinemas (and nationally) on June 2. Visit www.greaterunion.com.au for session times or read more about the movie at www.canetoadstheconquest.com.

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