A sentimental tale of a family purchasing a zoo, this film swung and missed for our hearts by ignoring CGI and 3D.Opportunities for an epic scale were jettisoned in favor of old-fashioned story and acting rendered entirely on film.
What could’ve have been the adventure of a lifetime was compressed to an ordinary heart-warming tale about living life and reaching out to others. (As if reaching out to others wouldn’t have been infinitely cooler in 3D.)
Matt Damon plays Benjamin Mee, a widower who moves his two kids to a large estate containing said zoo. There are lions, snakes, and bears as well as numerous other beasts that would’ve been more interesting if seen in 3D. Nevertheless, I was primed for the creatures to escape and roam the countryside, wrecking bloody havoc.
Perhaps they kill a tramp, then teens making out in a car, then a likable police officer until Matt Damon finally convinces authorities they have a crisis and need to act at once.
However director Cameron Crowe chose to ignore CGI in favor of real animals that seemed feeble and weak when compared to their CGI potential. For example, there was sequence where a bear escaped. But what if it had been a GIANT CGI BEAR, increasing the tension and upping the stakes for all involved?
Nothing will bring a family together like the threat of giant animal attack. Nothing. (I wish I could tell you how I know that.)
In fact, if Peter Jackson had been directing there would’ve been a HUNDRED GIANT CGI BEARS! Now beat that for high adventure. As it stands, no escaped animal hurt a single character. Not one. Ever. As an audience, we’re marooned, left alone with only story and acting to sustain us.
Even there, why couldn’t 3D have been employed to make every giggle of Mee’s little girl Rose (Maggie Elizabeth Jones) seem as if a happy child were chortling in our faces?
Eh, I tire.
In today’s financial climate, old school film making is a thin reed on which to support a multi-million dollar investment. But this picture chose not to cement in success.
Two and half stars for great setup and disappointing execution.
A hundred giant CGI bears . . . more! . . . oh what might have been.
