Another Earth Day, another Disneynature production. With last year’s Earth coming out April 22 and next year’s African Cats slated for an April 22 release, Disney is introducing a brand that might come to be a staple of Earth Days for years to come. This year, Disney brings us “Oceans,” a breathtaking view of our greatest resource.
Disneynature’s “Oceans” gives us a new look at a much revisited topic. It follows the time-tested formula for making every nature documentary since the beginning of time: a foreign narrator, bombastic classical music and slow motion photography. While on the surface this might seem like every documentary you’ve seen before, there’s a lot more than meets the eye.
Though the movie follows the same dolphin, shark, dolphin, whale, dolphin, octopus, dolphin equation of most other ocean documentaries, it does provide a degree of freshness. The difference is not just high-definition cameras and incredibly-accurate microphones.
Where other movies drown you with over-the-top grandiosity, “Oceans” provides a feeling of intimacy that most documentaries tend to lack. The intimidating strength of the ocean is contrasted with the delicacy of the life inhabiting it and makes for a truly awe-inspiring piece of work.
“Oceans” has more than its fair share of “goosebumpy” moments, from side-by-side swims with blue whales to the close-up shots of the great white sharks. “Oceans” might seem like a re-tread at first; however, it is very successful in delivering its message of conservation and protectionism.
It might seem overly grandiose; but, if you really think about it, what else deserves this treatment other than our greatest natural resource? The movie doesn’t tell you that you should appreciate nature, but allows you to build that appreciation for yourself.
I did have problems with Pierce Brosnan as the narrator, but that has to do more with my inability to disassociate him from his James Bond persona than with his ability to narrate a documentary. Overall, I think that “Oceans” is a well-done film and definitely worthy of your time.
John-Magus Cambridge is a City Times staff writer
