Life of Pi - A Visual Extravaganza : Review
Life of Pi, the adventure movie by filmmaking genius Award Winning director Ang Lee, is not short of a visual masterpiece. Lee pitches a story that is both believable and fantastical at the same time. It’s an extraordinary journey of two ordinary beings struggling to survive in the harshest situations ever seen and emerging victorious. The film starts debutante Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan, Rafe Spall and Tabu in leading roles. The visual effects of the film have been done by Rhythm and Hues Studios.
Plot
Pi Patel (Irrfan Khan) has been introduced to a novelist who thinks that Pi’s story can make him believe in god and make a great book. Pi narrates his extraordinary tale of his childhood where he lives in Pondicherry with his family and his father owns a zoo. Young Pi is very religious and he believes in all forms of God. One Day his father decides to leave India for Canada to start a new business and selling the animals in North America. His family boards on a Japanese Ship to sail through the Ocean. One night a thunder storm breaks in and the ship sinks. Only PI and some animals survive on a lifeboat. PI is frightened to find a Tiger on the boat. With a ferocious tiger, a life boat, No Help and a Huge Ocean. How will PI be able to survive in such a condition? Will PI overcome his fears and emerge victorious. The Journey takes on the Answers of these questions.
Performances
Performances from the actors are mostly top notch. Irfan Khan is believable as the Adult PI who has lived an extraordinary childhood. Rafe Spall as the writer is pretty good. Tabu is cast in a short role but she is as good as always. Suraj Sharma as teen PI makes up for a decent debut however there is some scope of Improvement in his performance. He needs to be controlled in scenes where it requires screaming. But the scene stealer is obviously, the CG formed Richard Parker the Tiger. It is not possible that you can’t keep yourself being awe-struck to this majestic character. He looks dangerous and vulnerable at the same time. Kudos to the Visual Effects team for bringing life from a CG character which is far more effective than the rest of the actors. Visual Effects
As I said in the title that it is a ‘Visual Extravaganza’. The effects are incredible and a delightful experience. The thunderstorm scenes peaks the chart. They are spectacularly done and you will find yourself as tense as the viewer as the actors in the film. The scenes featuring jelly fishes, the whale, the ocean waves etc have been done in absolute detail and looks quite effective. But the biggest victory of this film comes from the CG Tiger Richard Parker that delivers an amazing performance. It might be the most difficult task for the VFX team to bring out the exact character that looks believable and not lifeless. The film is a winner all the way where VFX is concerned. Verdict
Life of PI is a must watch, especially for Animation and VFX lovers. With a noble story, it has its heart in the right place. There were some shortcomings in the script that makes it a little tad slow. But they are not worth mentioning. Go and Have a Blast. This one needs not to be missed.
Rating : 4/5 by Varun Mehta
