Salt Lake Tribune Review
Early on in the new documentary \"Oceans,\" narrator
Pierce Brosnan intones, \"in a very real sense, the ocean is alive.\"
If only the movie, as beautiful as it is, were alive as well. Except for a few startling passages, this documentary plays like a gorgeously shot and very expensive screen saver.
Filmmakers
Jacques Perrin and Jacques Cluzaud, who took to the air with the 2001 documentary \"Winged Migration,\" traveled seven years around the globe -- from the Arctic to the Antarctic -- to capture amazing footage of the ocean\'s wildlife.
One minute, we\'re watching humpback whales breaching the surface with powerful splashes. The next, we\'re following a school of sardines dodging sailfish and dive-bombing seabirds. A bit later, we\'re on the beach as just-hatched turtles scurry to the water, with frigate birds picking them off for dinner.
For every familiar shot of lounging sea lions or playful otters, there are stunning views you probably haven\'t seen before. One view, of a sea-floor battle between two armies of spider crabs, looks like something you\'d see in a
Ridley Scott movie. Then there\'s the astonishing sight of a diver swimming alongside a great white shark, who is either ignoring or tolerating the human\'s presence.
The moment when \"Oceans\" becomes truly moving, though, is when it reminds us that the oceans aren\'t just a massive aquarium -- but a living ecosystem that reels from the not-so-benign presence of human beings. A series of satellite images show rivers injecting pollution into oceans like a fast-spreading poison, while sea creatures deal with the muck and junk that litters the ocean floors.
Disney, being Disney, lays on the environmental message lightly (partly in the form of a bubble-gum pop song added to the U.S. version, featuring Disney Channel faves
Kevin Jonas and Demi Lovato), while also removing the bloodshed from the natural world\'s predator-vs.-prey equation. (Orcas and sharks attack some sea lion pups in one scene, but there\'s not a trace of red onscreen.)
\"Oceans\" works best as a series of pretty pictures, each more beautiful and jaw-dropping than the one before it. If you want context, get online or head to a library.
-- Sean P. Means
The rundown: Some stunning undersea footage makes this disorganized documentary (by the "Winged Migration" crew) worth a look. 84 minutes. (SPM)
Synopsis: Winged Migration co-directors Jacques Cluzaud and
Jacques Perrin re-team for this documentary produced for
Walt Disney Studios' Dieneynature banner and exploring the many mysteries of our planet's oceans. Almost three-quarters of the earth's surface is covered by oceans, yet strangely we seem to know more about deep space than the world of the sea. There's no question that the ocean has played a crucial role in the history and sustenance of humankind, but what secrets does the underwater world hold? Follow filmmakers Cluzaud and Perrin beneath the ocean waves as they seek out the answer to this and explore the many dangers and mysteries of the deep.~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
