Visually stunning, lacking everywhere else

Rating: 6/10 (1 December 2012)

I wanted to write a review of this film soon after I watched it in theaters as I doubted if I would remember it in the future. Walking into the theater the poster outside read "THE NEXT AVATAR, LIFE OF PI". Not being a fan of Avatar I wasn't sure why the makers of this film would want to compare their work to it. The movie began with a long, dragging opening sequence containing various animals and sights in India and it really set the pace for the rest of the movie. The acting was excellent but I really never "beleived" the movie. From the cheesy flashback sequences, awkward moments between the writer and the main characters older self and the entire middle of the movie stranded at sea sequence which seemed to last hours on end. A mash up of Titanic, Cast Away, The Jungle Book and Avatar made me think more of those movies that the actual one I was watching. Fantastic special effects unfortunately turned a movie that I found believable in the beginning to one that I felt was straight out of a children's picture book by the end.