When I was younger, I remember my parents taking me to the IMAX to watch movies like To the Arctic 3D. You know, the ones that hold the attention as an elementary school adolescent but are honestly nothing more than a museum theater filler. Sadly, this adventure documentary fails in its mission to entertain as it becomes bogged down in its central message.
To The Arctic: 3D shows us the journey of a mother polar bear and her two seven-month-old cubs as they navigate the challenging Arctic wilderness that they call home. Sound familiar? It should.
I can see how this documentary would be a fun, educational way to look at the Arctic, but to be completely honest, this type of film has been done before, and much better I must say. I do credit director Greg MacGillivray for capturing the bear's homeland with amazing beauty, using the IMAX format to bring life to a place that most of us will never be able to experience firsthand. Unfortunately, the film offers little more than its visual stimuli.
While three-time Academy Award winner Meryl Streep does add a nice voice to the film, her dialogue becomes laden with information about climate change and our quickly deteriorating environment. I get that the film is meant to be educational, but there is too much focus on the facts and not enough story. By the end I felt as if I had just sat through a movie in my high school science class"”not a great feeling after dropping some hard earned cash for a seat.
