Review of Arctic Tale (2007) by Tricia S — 14 Aug 2007

[b][font=Arial][color=#000000]Artic Tale[/color][/font][/b].

[size=3][color=#000000][font=Times New Roman][u]Initial Reaction[/u]: It?s about Santa Claus?[/font][/color][/size].

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[u][font=Times New Roman][size=3][color=#000000]Main Characters[/color][/size][/font][/u].

[size=3][color=#000000][font=Times New Roman] Narrator, Queen Latifah: She?s a, er, narrator of this film.[/font][/color][/size].

[size=3][color=#000000][font=Times New Roman] Nanu: She?s a polar bear cub.[/font][/color][/size].

[size=3][color=#000000][font=Times New Roman] Seela: She?s a walrus.[/font][/color][/size].

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[u][font=Times New Roman][size=3][color=#000000]Plot Summary[/color][/size][/font][/u].

[size=3][color=#000000][font=Times New Roman] It starts off with the birth of Seela and Nanu, and the film divides into two plotlines, one for each of the baby animals.[/font][/color][/size].

[size=3][color=#000000][font=Times New Roman] Steela gets raised by her mother and another female walrus called Auntie. She goes about the business of learning how to catch clams and crawl onto ice sheets. However, global warming has melted several of the ice sheets, so Seela and her family are forced to move to warmer climates.[/font][/color][/size].

[size=3][color=#000000][font=Times New Roman] Intermixed with that story is Nanu?s story. After she?s born, she?s taking lessons from her mother on how to become a polar bear; hunting seals, swimming through the ocean, and so on. However, the global warming has shrunk the ice kingdom, and forced Nanu?s mother to kick Nanu out on her own one year sooner than usual. Nanu looks for food, but with the warm temperatures, it?s hard to get a bite to each. Hunger drives Nanu out into the open sea and to the same island that Steela goes to the same island that Seela and her family goes to.[/font][/color][/size].

[size=3][color=#000000][font=Times New Roman] The walruses and polar bears face off, and not everyone makes it out alive.[/font][/color][/size].

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[font=Times New Roman][size=3][color=#000000]SCORING[/color][/size][/font].

[u][font=Times New Roman][size=3][color=#000000]Main Characters[/color][/size][/font][/u].

[size=3][color=#000000][font=Times New Roman] Queen Latifah does a good job of narrating, however, too much of what she says is overly dramatizes; she?s asked to be a ?ham.? [/font][/color][/size].

[size=3][color=#000000][font=Times New Roman] Nanu and Seela go about their business, but there?s nothing separating them from other animal babies in other nature documentaries. SCORE: [b]5[/b][/font][/color][/size].

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[u][font=Times New Roman][size=3][color=#000000]Supporting Cast[/color][/size][/font][/u].

[size=3][color=#000000][font=Times New Roman] The mothers of Seela and Nanu act much like you?d expect in nature, and so do the fathers (who don?t lift a flipper or paw to help their offspring.) SCORE: [b]6[/b][/font][/color][/size].

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[u][font=Times New Roman][size=3][color=#000000]Plot[/color][/size][/font][/u].

[size=3][color=#000000][font=Times New Roman] The movie starts off great, with the kids learning how to survive. However, the film takes a long and treacherously boring turn when our heroes have to journey to new lands. SCORE: [b]6[/b][/font][/color][/size].

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[u][font=Times New Roman][size=3][color=#000000]Originality[/color][/size][/font][/u].

[size=3][color=#000000][font=Times New Roman] This feels like a mix of [i]March of the Penguins[/i] and [i]An Inconvenient Truth.[/i] Besides, the life story of animals has been played out on PBS, Discovery Network, and Animal Planet. SCORE: [b]3[/b][/font][/color][/size].

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[u][font=Times New Roman][size=3][color=#000000]Violence Factor[/color][/size][/font][/u].

[size=3][color=#000000][font=Times New Roman] Animals attack and kill each other, but they do it to survive, not to be mean. SCORE: [b]8[/b][/font][/color][/size].

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[u][font=Times New Roman][size=3][color=#000000]Other Moral Issues[/color][/size][/font][/u].

[size=3][color=#000000][font=Times New Roman] This film is supposed to be about family and kids, but it?s undermined by the lack of caring by the fathers of the two animal starts. [/font][/color][/size].

[size=3][color=#000000][font=Times New Roman] The film?s also hampered during the credits. Several kids preach to the audience off cue cards on how to save the polar ice caps. It gets in the way of the entertainment. SCORE: [b]3[/b][/font][/color][/size].

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[size=3][color=#000000][font=Times New Roman][u]Final Score (out of 60): [b]31[/b][/u] [u]% Score: [b]51.67%[/b][/u][/font][/color][/size].

[size=3][color=#000000][font=Times New Roman] Just an average nature documentary; wait for it on DVD.[/font][/color][/size].