FILM REVIEW: Oceans

Posted by: Tony – Apr 25, 2010

Since everybody in the world has now seen BBC’s Planet Earth and/or Life series on the Discovery Channel, we feel we know what to expect when seeing the trailers for Oceans, the new film in Disney’s Nature series. Indeed, the film is shot in a similar style, providing us with a very close look at some of the strangest looking creatures in the water, but Disney and the BBC clearly differ in their goals. The shows that appear on the Discovery Channel attempt to educate. Disney, on the other hand, is only out to entertain. Much like Earth, the first film in the new Disney Nature series, we see documentary footage, but rather than sharing interesting facts, the narrator sets up a dramatic scene. It works well at times, but suffers from a fatal flaw. Most of us are not oceanographers. Many will be left hungry for more information on some of the strange creatures that they may be seeing for the first time in this film, but Disney misses the opportunity to educate as well as entertain.

Perhaps the decision to avoid an attempt at education was a good one. It is very difficult to achieve a perfect balance between straight facts and storytelling. Failing at that would have made the movie either too long or painfully boring, or both. When it comes to making a film that will actually sell at the theater, it is better for it to be mindless entertainment than for it to be boring. Disney plays it safe and keeps it fun and fairly dumb. This is spectacle and nothing more.

Though mindless, the film is not without heart. The filmmakers clearly love the ocean and aquatic animals and have a great respect for it. There is a clear message from the filmmakers relating to the negative effects humans are having on the oceans and wildlife therein. One of the more memorable sequences of the film demonstrates how satellite imaging allows us to now trace the path of pollution as it travels out of rivers and into the open ocean. Remember, the film was released for Earth Day. The filmmakers make their argument more compelling by illustrating their points for a relatively brief time, rather than turning it into the central focus. The film is still about the majesty of the oceans, but it does provide a gentle Earth Day reminder that we’re melting our ice caps and catching endangered animals in fishing nets.

Overall, Oceans is a superior second attempt in the Disney Nature series. The first film in the series suffered from a lack of original footage. Not that they did not film for the movie. I am sure they did, but it all looked like footage we have seen before. Polar bears catch seals, and lions hunt a zebra, and so forth. The new film has a few instances of this, but for the most part, the footage is beautiful and unlike anything you might find on television. There are actually a few cases where the team must have shot too much and the film will have a random 30 second scene to show us an animal that does not fit in anywhere else. It occasionally hurts the pacing and feels disjointed, but it does not happen often enough to detract from the general quality of the film.

If nature films are your cup of tea, Oceans should prove enjoyable for you. It is short (86 minutes) and harmless, and it goes to great lengths not to be boring. As long as you do not mind looking a few of the more interesting animals up in the encyclopedia to supplement the films lack of information, you should have a nice time watching the gorgeous footage on display. Hopefully these Disney Nature films will keep getting better and better every Earth Day.

By Gareth Mussen