From acclaimed director Ang Lee, comes another must-see movie that takes you on a journey packed full with self-discovery and adventure. Based on the book by Yann Martel, Life of Pi tells the tale of a young Indian boy (Pi) who, while sailing to Canada with his family and their zoo, is shipwrecked on the Pacific Ocean which leaves him alone on a lifeboat with some rather vicious survivors. Battling the giant ocean with a Bengal tiger, Pi embarks on an adventure of a lifetime to find his way to safety.
What I liked
Life of Pi is spectacular visually. Ang Lee makes excellent use of special effects and you get a real sense of what it would be like being on a lifeboat with a tiger – scary stuff! The film is also pretty funny which is not what I was expecting. Suraj Sharma, who plays the leading role of Pi, puts in a great performance and you’re definitely rooting for him to survive the journey.
I went to see this film in 2D (that’s a regular movie to those anti-technology) as I don’t like wearing the 3D specs on top of my regular glasses. However, I do think this is a film I would sacrifice the annoyance of 3D glasses to watch it in 3D. The scenes with the tiger were brilliant and I’ll admit I jumped… twice. There’s also a great scene with a whale and although I won’t go into that to prevent spoilers, it would’ve been awesome to see what this was like in 3D.
What I didn’t like
The film has a certificate rating of PG which puts a plug on certain aspects of violence and language used. However I do think this film could have benefitted from a higher rating to incorporate a little bit more action than what was delivered. The actual sinking of the ship was a little too tame and reminded me more of a scene from Tin Tin rather than Titanic.
The film is also quite long and unless it’s completely epic, films that are two hours or more can begin to feel a bit tiring and Life of Pi is one of those films. Unfortunately, I didn’t think anything could be cut out as the story is brilliant, but a little more action or suspense would have helped.
Overall this is a great film. With little bits of excitement and anticipation but packed full of fantasy and special effects, it’s worth a look. The ending is a little bit dark and the younger audience may not understand what is fully going on, however this won’t disrupt the story altogether. Visually beautiful, Life of Pi and has everything you would expect from a PG fantasy adventure movie, even if I would have liked a wee bit more ‘pow’ to give it the wow!
[rating=4]
