My review of "Life of Pi" (2012)

This movie is a marvel. It's really quite a shame that the studio that produced this has already shut down. The film is about an Indian teenager who was born and raised in a zoo. Upon moving from India to Canada, the cargo boat transporting his family and all of the zoo animals he grew up with sinks, and he is stranded on a lifeboat with a few animals. This is an incredible tale of survival, passion, and belief in god.

Liked: Most of the acting was very good, especially the teenage version of Pi who was stranded. The movie was dazzling and amazing to look at. The scene with the jellyfish was particularly stellar. Even though it was mostly CGI, I enjoyed it all the same. The story was very simple and easy to follow. The atmosphere during the ocean portion of the movie was incredible, especially the few scenes  in which the lifeboat appeared to be floating in space. The soundtrack was great, the acting was great, and the story was great. 

Disliked: The way the story was told was a little cliched. I haven't read the book this film was based on, but to my understanding it didn't contain the ending where Pi explains his hardships to the Japanese interviewers, and it wasn't being told from an adult Pi to an author. In my opinion they should have maintained the book's storytelling technique because it would've built more suspense to Pi's inevitable survival. Also, apparently in the book there was more religious symbolism which I didn't catch in the movie version.

Overall, Life of Pi is an excellent survival story with stellar visuals and strong performances. I highly recommend seeing it.