Film Reviews

Arctic Tale

• Rating:
• Director: Adam Ravetch
• Starring:
• Details: USA / 96mins (G)

Arctic Tale focuses on two different plights in the increasingly harsh reality of the Antarctic; that of a bear and its cubs struggling to find food, and another looking at a young walrus avoiding a hungry hunter. They grow over a number of years as the Ozone layer affects their surroundings, causing them numerous and immense difficulties as they battle to survive. There is absolutely nothing wrong with Arctic Tale if you're lying on your couch bored on a Sunday afternoon, and looking to be stimulated about the greater good of wildlife in a particularly chilly part of the world; but paying nine quid to see something that you could easily watch for free at home is a bit of an ask. Sure, the bear is adorable and some of the footage surprisingly touching, but it's hardly groundbreaking stuff and really doesn't warrant a theatrical release. This feels like something that has found a distributor purely on account of the success of March of the Penguins, which was a much more entertaining affair and saw success because of the innovative approach by the filmmakers. Arctic Tale is basic stuff, filmed over a long period of time and narrated by Queen Latifah with an almost grating affability - she actually sounds like she's consuming vast amounts of candy floss as she speaks. While it is obviously aimed at educating the younger members of the cinema-going public, the adults taking them to the movies may find it hard to keep themselves fully engaged in proceedings, never mind their offspring. Sure its message is an undeniably important and relevant one, and Al Gore's presence is felt through that of his daughter Kristen, who co-wrote the narration; but despite its obvious good intentions, it never proves itself worthy of your time or money.

Review by Mike Sheridan