Life of Pi

The Life of Pi delivers a emotionally powerful and amazing visual experience.


When my friend suggested that we watch Life of Pi over Brad Pitt's new movie Killing Them Softly, I was reluctant, as I had planned to spend my time at the theater watching people get blown up and viewing a genocide on the race of bad guys. Additionally, I was skeptical of Life of Pi's ability to deliver a fun and meaningful movie experience and the 3D aspect; which I perceived to be a gimmick to draw in the mindless movie zombies that lack refinement. However, I was pleasantly surprised to watch a movie that was dramatic, thought-provoking, and very beautiful.

Life of Pi follows the story of a young man named Piscene Molitor, a.k.a Pi, who is lost at sea after the large cargo freighter he is traveling on is flooded by water and sinks. He was traveling on the ship with his family and various zoo animals that his father owned, and when the ship sinks, his whole family dies and he is stuck on a life boat with a tiger to keep him company. At this point, when I expected the movie to get stale, it only gets better, as Pi attempts at first to avoid the tiger (named Richard Parker) and then to train it; eventually, his efforts make the tiger a true companion for him on the sea. The movie could have fallen into a rut and gotten very boring, very fast; however, due to great pacing and the engaging relationship between Pi and Richard Parker, the movie never sags and kept me engaged until the very end.

Bros for life- well at least while they are on the boat together

In my opinion, this movie's greatest asset are the special effects.The director saw the ocean as a canvas that he could bring to life and use to peer into Pi's inner state or simply make a beatific scene. The ocean in this movie seemed to be alive, ever changing, filled with life and color. Its conditions also reflected Pi's mood. In the beginning, the ocean was always its cliche blue and sharks constantly circled the boat just as Pi was afraid of the unknown and scared to face his fear, Richard Parker. This is the oceans usual state in the movie, but whenever a important plot or character development scene takes place, the ocean changes into a mystical form. In one scene at sunset as Pi and Richard are at a cross roads of their journey, the water is perfectly reflective and orange, and Pi throws a message in a bottle into the sea, his last attempt scene in the movie to call for help. Additionally, the first moment of profound connection between Pi and Richard Parker occurs in a starry night, and the water reflects the stars, making the boat look like it is floating in space; and Pi notices Richard Parker gazing into the sea, and Pi joins him, and they both share a connecting moment that tethers the two together.

I was skeptical of the 3D mostly because the movie was not animated and I couldn't think about any good opportunities that would really do the filming the movie in 3D justice, so I thought it was a pointless gimmick. Man was I wrong. The most astounding scene of the movie is during a nighttime phosphorescent plankton bloom, which makes the water glow when disturbed and attracts a huge mass of glowing jellyfish to congregate all around the boat. As Pi gazes into the water, he makes out a shape approaching from the depths and it slowly begins to take form, and once Pi realizes its a massive blue whale, the majestic creature bursts from the water, glowing as it is covered with the glowing plankton and jelly fish. This scene really showed the ability of the 3D to deliver and defined its purpose in the film of bringing the great special effects to life.

Overall, I grant Life of Pi a 4.5 out of 5, only because the beginning started off slow and it wasn't abundantly clear on the whole message of the story and the importance of some of the scenes.