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
