Saturday, April 9, 2011

Movie Review: Born to be Wild


This is a pretty straightforward film; a story about two different communities of orphaned animals.  One is elephants in Africa.  The other: orangutans in Borneo (Indonesia).  The movie begins by giving the background on the genesis of these two movies, then explaining how they operate.  Finally, it finishes up with a case study of an animal in each community.

First off, some of the scenes in this movie are very beautiful.  I watched it in IMAX 3D and it was very easy on the eyes.  The first 3D nature film that I have seen as well.  This is a huge plus and, in my opinion, the best aspect of the movie.

The movie doesn't try to do too much.  Sometimes, nature films and documentaries can get tiresome and boring very quickly.  This one incorporates only the essential parts of the story and the most beautiful scenes.  This is great because it never gets cumbersome.  On the other hand, the movie is only 40 minutes long.  The shortest movie I have ever seen in theaters.  Keep this in mind when doing your own cost-benefit analysis.

As far as negatives, it's hard to find many.  If you don't like hearing about orphaned animals, then you won't like this movie.  If you do enjoy that and love watching nature films, then you will enjoy this.  It really does seem as simple as that.  My one real criticism would be that the film doesn't go as in-depth as it could.  Perhaps this is in an attempt to appeal to a wider audience (which it clearly is trying to do).  But, I thought I would point it out.

One last point, you've got to love Morgan Freeman as the narrator.  All of our lives, we have loved the sound of his voice.  That doesn't change here.  The man is a narration machine.

It's quite limited in it's scope, but understandably so.  What it does, it does well.  As such, this is a hard film to criticize since you get what you expect.  Nevertheless, the subject matter is just "pretty good" as far as I am concerned.  Sure, I love animals and seeing awesome shots in 3D.  But, it's not exactly going to blow me away.

Rating: 7/10

21 comments:

  1. Very in-depth review. I love this blog. Keep those wise reviews coming.
    www.neverboringnews.blogspot.com

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  2. I don't like hearing about orphaned animals, its just too sad. I do enjoy cute animals though. And with morgan freeman as a narrator thats just another reason to listen and watch as well, so i'll have to try to make time to watch.

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  3. Animal movies aren't usually my thing.

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  4. Might have to give this one a watch, good review though! enjoyed the read.

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  5. watching the other born to be wild right now, so i am surprised to hear about the film :D
    but i like apes so i will probably watch the film

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  6. Looks like ill need to check this out sometime, thanks.

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  7. I totally forgot about this movie! I suppose 95 kind of is a lifetime ago.

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  8. This is a good movie havn't seen it in ages.

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  9. Sort-of a sad undertone to be honest.

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  10. I watched it because of this post and enjoyed it thoroughly. Thanks for recommending!

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  11. Hmm , very interesting one. Need to make sure ill watch it sometime.

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  12. Any time Morgan Freeman narrates, and there are no penguins, the movie is sure to be a success.

    Great review.

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  13. funny, i actually agree with you 100%. keep it up.

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  14. Is it a documentary about animal development or is it more of an movie purely for entertainment?

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  15. there's actually a silverback gorilla that can walk on it's two legs with no arm help.

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