A sad, beautiful, and heartfelt film for families to enjoy. Recommended!

Rating: 9/10 (31 March 2013)

This is one of the few movies I didn't see in theaters last year, but last night, my sister, brother, myself included, and mother watched it together after hearing the Oscar buzz it received. Later, I found myself crying after watching it and now I understood why this will go down as one of the best movies of 2012.
Before I would go to the praises that I would like to point out, my only nit-pick is that it does get pretty slow and it does drag on some parts of the film, but like I said before, it's just a nit-pick.
Everything else is brilliant. The cinematography is awe-inspiring and the scenery plus the visual effects blew my mind away. Even the CGI effects on the animals is perfect if feels like you're seeing all those real creatures. I may not be a fan of Ang Lee's works, but I think he did a nice job with his directing here. It's atmospheric and has a sense of wonder. The script is smart and touching with a strong beginning and uplifting ending along with the story which is so emotional.The music is pleasant and beautiful, but the strongest aspect, like the story, would have to go the acting. Pi is an appealing lead thanks to the young actors and Irrfan Khan as the adult Pi and the other actors did a fine job with their supporting roles. Not to mention the animals are very cute.
Overall, Life of Pi came this close to becoming a masterpiece if it had a much nicer pace and I have yet to read the book this was based on, but thanks to it's emotional story, solid editing, nice music, and creative characters, I would recommend this to those who haven't seen it yet. It's that good!