Life of Pi

Life of Pi is a remarkable story on the journey of a boy shipwreck at sea on a lifeboat in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. He is however, not alone on this lost voyage as his fellow survivors are a Zebra, an orang utan, a hyena and a tiger by the name of Richard Parker. The film is taken from the critically acclaim book by Yann Martel and directed by Ang Lee. Will he be able to survive together with these animals or will the open sea claim another life?

Dammit I said YOU go left! Left left!

How do you make such a dire/mundane book come to life and have you reeling in every scene? 3D MY FRIEND! Instantly watching this film in 3D you feel in awe of the visual spectacle that is Life of Pi. I knew slightly what the story was like (okay I didn't finish the book) so my expectations were quite low for this one. Once you get into the film and listening to the story (narrator is Irrfan Khan; older Pi), it will open your mind and eyes to this amazing adventure that Pi has to endure. Having animals in the boat has complicated his situation and even so with the tiger lurking around hoping to have him as his next meal. It is Pi's relationship with Richard Parker which grows from scared as hell to shipwreck companion that keeps the story going from scene to scene.

WEEEeeeeeee!

Do you remember the film Poseidon? That luxury cruise that tips upside down and the survivors has to make their way to the other side that is above water? Or maybe the film Alive where everyone has to eat each other so they don't have some sort of chronic gastric? There is something about survivor films that really gets you into the mood I think. You start to feel sorry for the survivors and you're cheering them on even if they are a huge man-eating Bengali tiger. Probably in a strange way Pi represents anyone of us, lost at sea and just clinging on to survival. Yeah maybe I can relate to that a bit more.

 We're gonna need a bigger boat..

So if you didn't know the movie is kinda trippy (visually) and it tackles the whole religion issue as well. What is the one true religion and what is the meaning of life? Don't think I'm going to go into too much detail on that, but if you keep an open mind about what Pi sees out in the Pacific Ocean and what he goes through I think you will enjoy this film. A good film by Ang Lee and already Oscar Nominated for Best Picture this year. Wow it's going to be quite a tough fight this year.

Rating - 4/5 (Pie-tastic!)