It didn't make me believe in god, but made me want to read the book!

Rating: 8/10 (31 January 2013)

Life of Pi is one of those films that almost immediately draws you in to the world it has created. I watched the film with a permanent smile on my face and surely that is all you can ask of any film!
OK, so we all know the film is about a young man who is cast adrift with a tiger in the Pacific ocean in a small life boat. But, inevitably the story is so much more than that. Told largely in flashback, questions of faith and the human spirit are asked and sometimes answered. Almost uniquely in the day of the big Hollywood blockbusters, the film allows its audience to draw their own conclusions and not to be preached at. I'm sure the film says different things to different people, showing that what you bring in to a film will determine what you take out of it.
The cast are excellent, especially the various actors who play our hero Pi Patel through various stages of his life. The different actors are all engaging and make his character believable and likable.
The visuals are stunning and some of the 3D adds to the story and doesn't totally detract from it. I'm not a fan of 3D and this is the highest compliment I can pay to any 3D film. But, I think the visuals would be stunning in 2D. To be honest, I wish 3D would go away as it doesn't add very much and is a novelty at best. But, to be fair to director Ang Lee, he used it pretty well.
I haven't read the book on which this film is based, so I can't say how true to the book the film is. But, the highest compliment I can pay to the film is it made me want to read the book.
All in all a great film that I can highly recommend.