The Life of Pi - Movie Review

With that said, I can also see how many people wouldn`t like it very much.The story is very philosophical and metaphorical. People looking for a little escape and brainless entertainment won t find that here.Director Ang Lee does a quite remarkable job at developing the characters quickly. They are archetypes mostly and remain true to form throughout their respective journeys. In fact the movie wouldn`t really work if this weren`t the case. We not only get to know these people in minutes, but we connect to and care about the sympathetic ones and develop a dislike of the nasty ones immediately. To illustrate this point, one character has about 30 seconds of screen time yet plays a major role in the plot.The CGI is amazing. Probably the best I`ve ever seen. I saw it in 3D and whereas in many movies the 3d effect is a distraction, in this move it`s an enhancement. With very few exceptions the animals all look real and their movements are very natural. I couldn`t really tell when an actual animal was on-screen versus the computer generated version. This made the experience even more enjoyable for me. Religion plays a central role in the film, but it never gets preachy. To say this movie has spiritual overtones is quite an understatement and is a key element of the story. Self-discovery, loss, doubt and redemption all blend into a seamless story which is at the same time implausible and utterly believable. "It`s not what happens to you, it`s how you react to it that matters" applies to the plot as well as the characters themselves.I haven`t read the book so I can`t say how true to the source the movie is. What I can tell you is that after seeing this movie, I want to read the book. While this film was in production I read an article that stated the author never thought this book would be made into a movie because it would be too difficult to produce. It took quite a visionary crew to bring this story to the big screen.Watch Life of Pi for free with someone whom you believe to be a bit on the cerebral side. You`ll have plenty to contemplate and to talk about. If you enjoy talking about ethics, religion, spirituality or just good movie making you`ll have plenty of material.I give The Life of Pi a strong recommendation .