Review of Kon-Tiki (2012) by Steven B — 21 May 2013

While this movie is wonderfully beautiful, terrific images of life at sea on a balsa wood raft, in the end it leaves you a bit unsatisfied. Thor Heyerdahl was a self educated adventurer/explorer who espoused a theory of the Polynesian islands being settled by South Americans traveling by raft.

It is a well known story and a high adventure, but still it's mostly about a bunch of guys on a raft in the South Pacific for months, and months, and months. Despite the introduction of sharks and misadventures it is difficult to make much out of this.

In the end I was disappointed that the movie sort of made it look like Heyerdahl's theory had been 'proven' or at least accepted: nothing if further from the truth. Even during Heyerdahl's life his theory was not considered very strong.

He was acknowledged as an adventurer and explorer, but as an anthropologist, not so much. There is no doubt that Polynesia was settled by Asians, probably from Taiwan, and Polynesians may have in fact traveled to South America, but there is no evidence of the this happening from South America to Polynesia.

If you just want to see wonderful scenery and don't care about the story this is a fine film, but if you want more meat on the bone, it falls short.