Life Of Pi (2012) – IMDB Rank #190
Watched 15/1/13
First I have to have a little rant: This should NOT be in the IMDB top 250 films of all time. Think IMDB need to start using a different formula as far too many current movies are going into the top 250 simply because they’re getting lots of votes because lots of people have just seen them. It’s above things like Rosemary’s Baby, The Exorcist & Rocky (and The Princess Bride & Monsters Inc! No way!!). Rant over. Not saying it’s a bad movie, it’s just not an all-time classic.
Read Life Of Pi years ago so of course wanted to see the movie. From what I can remember of the book, the movie follows it very closely. Suraj Sharma is good as the young Pi (or medium Pi… The one on the boat!). I couldn’t really connect with the adult Pi and the writer (Prometheus dude) for some reason, though. I didn’t find the film “moving” in any way but I know I was supposed to. Not sure why. Maybe it’s because I already knew the story? A film is almost always a disappointment when compared with the book. This one should have worked, though, because it’s SO close to the book. Dunno. It just felt a little empty. But, yeah… I knew the ending so I suppose I didn’t have that bit to make me “think” about all that had happened previously. And, come to think of it, I didn’t LOVE the book – just thought it was okay. The same can be said for how I felt about the movie.
I saw this in 3D. I really don’t care about 3D and often just find it distracting. That being said, the 3D was good in Life Of Pi – it was subtle and I kind of forgot about it (same as with Hugo – that was very good). I prefer 3D to be that way. And the look of the film overall was great – it was pretty to look at so I liked that. And the tiger was excellent. I definitely most enjoyed all the scenes in the boat and on the meerkat island (I know that part of the book was by far my favorite part as well). Always lost a bit of interest when they went back to adult Pi & the writer. Have to say that I did get a kick out of the end where Prometheus dude explains things slowly to those in the audience who weren’t paying attention. It was a real “let me get this straight…” moment. 😉
I feel bad that I’ve not said really great things about Life Of Pi as so many others seemed to love it. It’s certainly not a bad movie. I probably would have liked it a bit more if I hadn’t read the book, I think. So I’d say you could get away with doing one or the other on this one – either just read the book or just watch the movie.
My Rating: 6.5/10
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“First I have to have a little rant: This should NOT be in the IMDB top 250 films of all time.”
Very much this.
IMDB is awful for this, as is pretty much any list based on popular consensus of the masses.
On my way to see it, my friend said “it’s in the top 10 of all time on IMDB”. I explained to him the idea of “IMDB bounce” where new titles are propelled to the top of the list, but he wasn’t paying any attention. He hated it.
so did I, to be fair. It just didn’t really work on any level for me. Left feelnig cold and empty.
They Shoot Pictures, Don’t They? is a much better site for the greatest films of all time.
http://www.theyshootpictures.com/gf1000_top100films.htm
In short, never trust a list that puts Citizen Kane as the 46th best film of all time.
NOW you tell me – I’m already 156 movies in on the IMDB challenge! 😉 1,000 Greatest? Maybe I’ll make it my 2014 to 2024 challenge! lol! And maybe I should start by actually watching Citizen Kane, then…? At least it’s in the IMDB Top 250. Under loads of Christopher Nolan stuff, no doubt! 😉
I didn’t love the movie either. Everyone else did, so I figured it was me. I couldn’t connect with the character. I didn’t feel anything. There was nothing specifically wrong … I just didn’t warm to it.
I agree that a movie that came out less than a year ago cannot reasonably be declared a classic. By definition, there’s a test of time before anything can be a classic. How about 5 years? Like you can’t get into the Baseball Hall of Fame merely because you had a great rookie year?
Yes, I wish IMDB could figure something out so that not QUITE so many current films make it into the Top 250. I do think some from the past five years may be deserving, though- it’s hard to say what will & won’t be considered a classic ten years or so from now. I think Life Of Pi will be mostly forgotten and it’ll drop out of the top 250 as newer movies replace it.
And, yes, I didn’t feel anything for the characters in Life Of Pi, really. Not sure why.
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