| Overall Grade: |
D |
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| Story: |
D+ |
|
|
| Acting: |
N/A |
|
|
| Direction: |
C- |
|
|
| Visuals: |
D+ |
|
|
NOT for young children, G rating inappropriate
by Jennifer (movies profile)
Apr 24, 2009
119
of
160 people found this review helpful
********Warning - Plot Spoilers************
First of all, I need to make an admission. Even though my daughter is 10, she has not been allowed to watch violent movies, play violent video games, or watch violent cartoons. So, her level of media exposure has been different than that of the "average" American child.
She has, however, watched nature shows on PBS that depict death and killing. She's also empathic, meaning, she often can feel what others are feeling, and while watching the killing scenes on screen, she said it was as if she was experiencing what the animal being attacked was experiencing. So, my disclaimer is that she's more sensitive to these things than the average child.
That said, there was some amazing photography; I agree with some previous posters. However, the killing scenes were way too graphic (IMO) unless your child is completely jaded to violence.
There was one scene where a leopard or cheetah was chasing down a herd of antelope. They showed how one baby got confused and separated from the heard, and then in slow motion showed how it was chased down and eventually caught. The cat began to bite its neck, but they stopped at a point before any blood was shown.
The second scene, that even I found incredibly disturbing, involved a herd of elephants that they had been following throughout the movie - the herd was searching for water. When they finally reached the watering hold, they explained how the water hole was shared by the lions and elephants and that the elephants dominated during the day. But at night (they used night sensor photography for this part) they explained how the lions dominated due to their night vision and the fact that the elephants could not see well at night. They showed the lions chasing down a baby elephant and clawing it on the back, the baby screaming. Then the adult elephants got involved and started stampeding around the lions, trying to protect the baby. The lions realized that they would have to take down the mother elephant in order to get to the baby, and so they showed a group of (estimated)15+ lions attacking an elephant, one lion jumping up on the elephants back and biting it. They showed the elephant trying to run from the lions, and all of the sounds were in crystal clear Dolby stereo sound. They did not show the elephant being brought down, but the screams and sounds of all of the animals were heard during the event.
The point at which we walked out was preceded by beautiful footage of seals swimming through schools of fish, absolutely stunning photography watching the schools move in unison and the light reflecting off their scales. Then, without warning, they introduced the great white shark and jumped right into footage of the sharks jumping out of the water and snapping the seals in half.
We walked out at that point, as I could see that this graphic violence was only going to continue. My daughter had to hide her head in my lap during these scenes and was shaking, crying, and her heart was racing by the time we left.
As I explained earlier, not every child is as sensitive as mine, and I feel like that needs to be stated. At the same time, my child has watched PBS documentaries and is well aware of the fact that animals eat each other for food and that this is part of the "circle of life".
However, this movie was not what Disney advertised on the previews. It's rated "G" (inappropriate rating) and the violent imagery was some of the most graphic I've ever seen, as an adult who has watched many a nature programs. I felt it was gratuitous, had nothing to do with Earth Day or global warming, saving the earth, or anything of the sort. |
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