An IMAX documentary, watched at home. Not sure how that works, not quite as well I suspect. The premise is simple though. A 45 minute montage of beauty shots depicting the journey of life and the planet with narration by Brad Pitt to hold it all together. There’s apparently a version with Cate Blanchett, but I got stuck with Brad. There’s some nice visuals and pleasant music and even with Pitt going a bit over the top with sincerity, it flows quite well. It’s hardly innovative though, I feel like I’ve seen this before by Disney perhaps or National Geographic. It seems more suited to a exhibition presentation than the silver screen. Some of the foley work seems questionable too, but the visuals, a mix of CG and live photography do look interesting at worst, stunning at best. Like an epic screensaver. Particles and cells, hot springs and lava, mountain ranges and sea-life. Oh and dinosaurs. Cut faster and voiced by Attenborough it’d would be declared a masterpiece. It’s very slow though, the cuts, the score, Pitt must be sending himself to sleep with his delivery, but it’s not steady. Taking big leaps that feel very jarring. It’s not bad, but I imagine the script and storyboard felt grander than it’s turned out.
5/10
