A Turtle's Tale: Sammy's Adventures

If "Sammy's Adventures" seems rather predictable and dull, it is probably because Belgian director Ben Stassen seems so carried away by its anti-pollution and environmental messages that he misses out on the plot and the action. However, the visuals in this underwater opus are top-notch (especially in 3D) and way better than Stassen's last effort "Fly Me To The Moon".

I also like the way Stassen tells the story from a turtle's eye view - which will go a long way in educating children on undersea life and protecting those creatures and our ecology. The movie is about a green sea turtle who is hatched in 1959 and spends the next 50 years travelling the world while it is being changed by relentless whale and shark fishing, pollution and global warming. Hours after being hatched, Sammy (voice of Yuri Lowenthal) finds and loses the love of his life, a pretty hatchling called Shelly (Isabelle Fuhrman of Orphan fame).

On the epic journey across the oceans that all turtles must accomplish before returning to the beach where they were born, Sammy dodges every danger in the hope of meeting Shelly again. On the way, he also has encounters with humans, both good and bad, as well as toothy sharks and piranhas.

It is easy to root for Sammy and his pals not only because they are cute but also because they are sporting and gutsy. With its story spanning over 50 years, Stassen marks the milestone periods with human events (like the hippies of the Sixties and the Greenpeace protests) and with classic songs on the soundtrack. Of course, the Beatles are represented with their hit, 'Across The Universe' (what else?).

On the downside, character development seems to be at a minimum for some - and the 3D thrills (read action and stunts) are nowhere as impressive as those of "Legend Of The Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole". Indeed, from the numerous death-defying scraps that Sammy escapes from, we wonder how he can have such an 'enchanted' life indeed if not for far-fetched plotting. Nevertheless, it is an entertaining sea-world documentary for the kids. - LIM CHANG MOH (limchangmoh.blogspot.com)

It has beautiful scenery, vivid animation and voice-over. In general it keeps you engaged and is quite enjoyable. It is appropriate for kids and doesn't have any violence or bad influence. I prefer to watch simple, beautiful movies like this with my kids; rather than many other movies that are filled with desire, violence, and pornography. However, I think the theme is not clear. It is a mixture of love story, environmental concerns, and searching for your own dreams; but those themes don't come together to compliment each other. To me, the theme of the movie is the most important thing, that is the message you want to deliver. So I only gave it 6 out of 10.

Don't listen to the 3D snobs, the 3D on this film is wonderful. My kids watched it in Thai while I listened to tunes on my I-Pod (because I can't speak Thai). Amazing. If you're a teenager looking for fart jokes, glib one-liners, sexual innuendo, or pop culture references, you'll be disappointed. But if you can just relax into the outdoor and underwater and nature scenery you'll have a great time. The 3D pops out at you like the old traditional style on steroids. During the scene where the turtles are hatching, it actually feels like you're leaning over a hole on the beach. Snakes and piranhas jump out of the screen and and tiny fish hover at your nose.

I do agree the story seemed kind of cliché. But if you are looking for a kind of thrill ride of 3D with wonderful art direction, you'll love it. So glad I have kids or might never have experienced the best 3D I have personally experienced.

What is the most effective way to make a person feel guilty for being part of the human race? Try making him or her sit through a movie about a cute-looking, adorable-sounding baby sea turtle who struggles to survive against environmentally unfriendly human activity. Swimming through his adventures in the open ocean, Sammy has as much fun as an undertaker on his first day of work. As if contending against natural predators isn't bad enough, he has to dodge plastic litter, trawl fishing nets, illegal dump and oil spills, with only his fragile little shell on his back.

Though the praiseworthy green message behind the movie is no less deserving of being explored on the big screen, its delivery is all quite off-putting. For one thing, Sammy's Adventures is presented like a kids' picture book on sea turtles facts – too direct and simple with only a watered-down plot regarding a turtle's desire to see the world to hang onto. Think: this is how sea turtles look like and this is what they eat, this is where they go when they're swimming around in the ocean, this is what they have to go through to survive and this is what we as people, need to do to help them. In fact, at the end of the movie, after going through all of the terrible events of his life, Sammy literally tells us, almost word for word that 'humans should be more environmentally-conscious and that sea turtles need their help to survive, now, more than ever.'

Granted, the makers are probably trying to reach out to young audiences with its simple language and story – the target group of this type of genre, but it sounds just a tad too preachy for the rest of us. On a whole, it just lacks the charm and humour that both children and non- children alike, would look forward to in an animated cartoon. They do try to inject some light-heartedness with the funny sidekick character of Sammy's best friend as voiced by Anthony Anderson. If you think he sounds like that black computer hacker genius guy who was taken in by the secret service for looking at the thumbdrive with the secret information in it, then you are right – it is him.

To be fair, it's not by Disney Pixar, but the look of the movie is decently entertaining for anyone of any age. And, we have to most probably thank 3D technology for that. The various fast-motion travelling scenes are enjoyable to sit through because tricking your brain into thinking that your body is moving when it's actually not and having things popping up and flying into your face, is always fun.

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My 5 year old wanted to watch this movie. She spent much of the movie crying. Most kids movies have some type of obstacle for the main character to overcome and then they come out on top. Sammy encounters more obstacles than most. The majority of this movie is just one sad, scary thing happening after another (difficult for some children to deal with). I thought the graphics were great even though I didn't watch the 3D version. I think the movie was okay, but it dragged quite a bit. It's not one of those movies that my child will want to watch again and again and again. If you're looking for a completely light and happy children's movie to watch you may want to look elsewhere.