'Life of Pi' is one of the few examples of mind blowing beautiful films

Rating: 5/10 (7 January 2013)

'Life of Pi' is simply one of 2012's best movies made but also one of the most emotional films ever made. Despite the premise of Life of Pi and the Hunger Games being pretty similar, Life of Pi feels like a realistic movie in which case Hunger Games doesn't.
Let me start off with the acting in the film. The acting by everyone in the film is outstanding. There isn't really any weak spot for the film when it came to acting. Young Pi's actor did an extremely realistic and believable performance playing the courageous adventurer whose life has been torn apart by the death of his family. Old Pi also did a great job playing the role of a now elderly man who feels like he went on an adventure. The acting is safe! Its brilliant!
Now, off to the best thing about this film and that is the characters in the film. The characters in this film are all lovable. They all have the touch of human-like feeling to them. They feel like people we can follow. People we can admire. Pi was a superbly entertaining protagonist. Normally, when the film is based on a small child it turns out disastrous (eg: Star Wars: Phantom Menace) but here the acting is brilliant and the character himself is extremely interesting and a person we feel for. All the other characters were fun, especially Richard Parker and the father. The characters were the greatest strength about the film.
Now the story is the weakest element of the movie but is written to be such a simple story with extreme emotions. The story is told as a recount which usually sparks one major issue. It removes all tension about the main character. But here, half way during the movie I actually forgot the Pi was recounting the story that happened and so the whole film, you pretty much forget that Pi survived. That takes superb directing to get it right
Now the film itself looks amazing! Its a visual treat to the eye and deserves to truly win "Best Picture" Oscar this year! The dialogue to the film is also extremely entertainingly written.
Now the ending of the film was something I just didn't expect. This is also where I have a minor little nitpick. When we see Richard Parker betray Pi at his most urgent need, I was heartbroken because I cared for the character and their friendship and how it grew during such difficult times. I thought that was a great little surprise and I, all the way along, expected them to end up friends or pets! My minor nit pick was when Pi was at the hospital and the two Chinese Journalists wanted a story that they could publish without humiliation. I understand it was all symbolic and it was clever in that way. But here, I feel that young Pi's acting was a little over the top and the scene just didn't seem to end. Also, for a two hour movie, I was surprised it had a 20 minute ending to it but that wasn't really an issue. The one issue is when Pi tells a different story using symbolic elements including the monkey, his mother, the zebra and the tiger. It just dragged on there and I had an issue
Throw aside that little nitpick I had at the end of this film about the dragging on of the symbolic story, I absolutely loved every minute of this film. Its something that rarely happens anymore!
9/10! Brilliant must see film at cinemas!