Review: Oceans

Oceans

OPENING: 04/22/2010

STUDIO: Disneynature

RUN TIME: 103 min

ACCOMPLICES:
Trailer, Official Site

The Charge
Explore the depths of our planet’s oceans. Explore the stories that connect their world to ours.

Opening Statement
Oceans is a visually stunning documentary that spotlights the vast bodies of water that make up 71% of our home planet. It may have taken four years to create, but Jacques Perrin and the Disneynature team did one heck of a job to make this infotainment picture captivating, educational, and well worth my time and money.

Facts of the Case
Narrated by Pierce Brosnan (Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief), Oceans is a dazzling documentary focusing on over 50 different oceanic locations. This movie not only shows a wide variety of different species of ocean life, but also how humans impact their survival and well-being in both positive and negative ways.

The Evidence
As has been the case with many of the films thus far in 2010, the visuals are once again a sight to see. I guess movie studios are realizing if their trailers are a pleasure on the patron’s eyes, they’ll head out to see their film once it’s released. Hey, it’s working, at least on me anyway. But in seriousness, this film is beautifully done. Sharper than the finest HDTV out there, the film really gets up close and personal with many different water animals, and the detail is so fine, you can even make out the convoluted patterns of their scales. Such a well shot picture.

The movie is an hour and forty-three minutes long. Depending on who you are, that may not be enough time to satisfy when it comes to an interesting documentary, but fear not! The movie shows a huge array of marine life; ranging from different kinds of fish, whales, sharks, crabs, and even gulls and other birds that hover above the ocean. Disneynature made sure that no animal relevant to the ocean was left out, and as a result the film was very intriguing when it jumped from one animal to the next.
Now by reading this, you probably think the entire film is a rated-G family friendly frenzy. Well, that’s not entirely so. There will be a handful of scenes in particular that demonstrates the ever-so-necessary “survival of the fittest” law, more commonly known as the “Circle of Life” to the Disney fanatics. These scenes have drawn some minor ire amongst parents that believe the scenes are a tad too graphic for their precious littluns to be witnessing, but I feel such is necessary. It’s a part of science, a part of life. These survival of the fittest moments are what keeps these marine animals alive, and the strongest survive. That’s the way of the world, and I don’t fault Disney one bit for showing these scenes in their film.

And finally, with the disgrace a situation off-shore drilling has provided the Gulf, it’s nice that Disney showed different ways humans can be a negative factor for the ocean. If people get anything out of this movie, they’ll see just how lovely ocean dwelling animals are, and that tampering with their habitat too much for our own selfish benefits will be detrimental in the long run.

Closing Statement
With its crystal clear visuals, and enlightening messages and factoids, Oceans is a seas-worth of both knowledge and beauty, and is a fine way to spend the evening at the cinema. Go check it out; you won’t be sorry.

The Verdict
9/10

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