Rating of
2.5/4
Life of Pi is kind of lame, but worth watching
Looneymanthegreat - wrote on 03/26/13
Life of Pi is a beautiful movie to look at, but has a fatal flaw that keeps me from liking it as much as the critics seem to.
That flaw is that it doesn’t mean anything. There is no profound message in the story or complex idea, there is a clumsy “coexist” message in the film, but it’s barely recognizable.
Is that wrong? No. It’s perfectly okay for a movie to have a lame message or even no message at all. Some of the best movies ever made have an ambiguous, obscure or non-existent meaning.
Life of pi however tells you straight up that the story is supposed to have a powerful meaning to it, and when it ends it acts like it just blew your mind. It literally tells you that the story is supposed to make you believe in god, but I walked out of the theater being just as doubtful as before.
I have no problem with movies with religious themes just as long as they’re done well. The bible has been used to great effect in many movies. Life of Pi however is a jumbled mess of a message movie. If it was just a story about a boy who is shipwrecked with a tiger then it would have been a lot more entertaining.
The movie, all whining aside, is stunning to look at. If you see this movie I recommend you see it on the biggest screen possible, because it looks good. I would have preferred more practical effects (there is a lot of CGI used here,) but overall the movie is one of the more visually interesting to be released in 2012.
I’m a tad bit conflicted on this one, but I really have to recommend it just due to its best picture nomination and visual wizardry. I probably will never watch it again, but if you want to keep up with the modern movie industry this really isn’t one to miss.
