Life of Pi ... 8/10

Rating: 8/10 (6 June 2013)

Certainly a spectacle of jaw dropping visuals however this film offers so much more than that. Life of Pi is a great example of how skillful direction can allow a film to include many larger than life themes and yet stay focused on the story its telling. The film never once goes over board on its use of CGI, in fact it only demonstrates that when a director actually understands visual effects they can actually become another storytelling tool, like when a bunch of Iron Man suits are hitting each other. Having never seen a HFR (high frame rate) 3D feature I am still not a believer in the format, having said that, this film uses the tool very interestingly but I still don't think it adds anything to any of the emotional elements of the film. Life of Pi has a lot of soul and immediately gets personal with its audience and with the exception of an ever so slightly rushed ending, the film never lets you down.
I highly recommend that you see Life of Pi. I also feel that this film should have won best picture over Argo, as good as that movie was, in my opinion there is no comparison.