Life of Pi (2012)

The critic calls it a miraculous extraction of something beautiful and wise from a tricky novel, praising Ang Lee's confident control, stunning spectacle on a blank-canvas ocean and Suraj Sharma's unforgettable lead performance.

The critic calls the film a masterpiece, praising Ang Lee's bold use of 3-D and CGI to create a grand, visually stunning adventure and profound spiritual voyage centered on the boy's survival with the tiger.

Praises Ang Lee's 3D adaptation as a gorgeous accomplishment that brings a fanciful premise to vivid life with technical skill and humanistic storytelling. Singles out the convincing visual effects, especially the tiger, and the director's tact and intelligence.

Describes the film as transcendent, with vivid 3D imagery and meticulous framing that captures the transformative power of storytelling. Singles out the lifelike tiger and the avoidance of anthropomorphizing for praise.

The review commends Ang Lee's handling of the story's theological themes through credible and magical visual effects, calling it a perfect match for the material and strong family entertainment.

Ang Lee's Life of Pi is an eye-boggling demonstration of the virtuosities available to the poetically inventive film-maker, a super-movie that re-becomes every filmgoer a child with its stunning digital effects and the dazzling digi-tiger.

The review highlights the visually dazzling CG sequences and the survival story's quiet moments but finds the religious metaphor banal and the overall fable unsatisfying.

The critic praises the film's stunning visual imagery and the realistic portrayal of the tiger and survival at sea, but criticizes the heavy-handed voiceover and banal philosophical elements.

Praises the astonishing visual confidence, narrative force, and handling of 3D effects, noting it unites fans and doubters of the source material despite some script flaws.

Calls it Ang Lee's best spectacle since Crouching Tiger despite a shaky screenplay, highlighting the pioneering 3D style and rich aesthetic experience. Praises Lee's craftsmanship in melding style and content.

The critic praises the hyper-real CGI tiger and luminous visuals as setting new benchmarks but criticizes the film as kitschy and undermined by coy, bogus mysticism that leaves it odourless and unconvincing as a coherent adult experience.

The critic finds the early scenes of Pi's pious childhood potentially alienating to viewers who do not share his outlook, but notes the survival story at sea and the film's visual achievements.

The critic hails Ang Lee's technical wizardry, convincing tiger effects and spectacular sea sequences as an incredible advance but faults the cod-spirituality and phoney leap of faith, calling the central dilemma no true dilemma.

The digital effects are mindblowing and the tiger is incredibly realistic, but the film is ultimately a shallow and self-important shaggy-tiger story whose exasperating ending cancels out the adventures.

The critic finds Ang Lee’s adaptation innocuous and emotionally inert despite its visual splendor in 3D, criticizing the static characterization of Pi, an unconvincing frame story that exoticizes the hero, and a pedantic coda that undercuts the story’s ambiguity.

The critic views the film's religious themes and protagonist's piety as overly gentle and self-abnegating to the point of being chilling and bland, while noting the cinematic presentation of the survival story.

The critic praises the film's majestic 3D visuals, especially the opening credits sequence and the fantastical floating island, as groundbreaking and wondrous. The story of survival and faith is engaging but the film excels most in its cinematic spectacle and natural miracles.

The critic praises Ang Lee's adaptation as a beautifully told story of survival, self-discovery, faith and the power of storytelling, with gorgeous special effects and effective 3D. The one element singled out for praise is the film's layered exploration of story and perception beyond its visual spectacle.

The critic calls it a thinking man's blockbuster that balances spectacle and substance, with stunning 3D visuals and themes of spirituality and self-discovery. The one element singled out for praise is the restraint in its visual opulence while exploring complex ideas through an accessible fantasy.

The review calls the film a visual marvel and emotionally rich tale of survival, faith, and self-discovery that is inspiring and awe-inspiring. It notes the strong 3D use, patient storytelling, and resonant themes, though the setup is slow and some elements familiar.

Ang Lee returns to top form with a moving 3-D saga about a youth and a tiger surviving warily together after a shipwreck. The film is bravura filmmaking that combines technological wizardry with heartfelt storytelling about faith and the power of stories.

The critic highlights the stunning, jaw-dropping 3D visuals and cinematic power that make the 'unfilmable' story work, along with a strong lead performance. It notes flaws in the framing device and explicit thematic spelling-out that undercut the experience somewhat.

Praises the film as a true cinematic achievement and visual masterpiece directed by Ang Lee, highlighting strong performances by Suraj Sharma and Irrfan Khan along with its emotional and spiritual impact, while noting minor deviations from the novel.

Calls the film visually sumptuous with beautiful 3D imagery but faults the weak script for reducing life lessons to platitudes and trampling the story’s ambiguity with a clumsy ending that spells everything out.