'Arctic Tale' for me was very difficult to rate and review. There was no doubt about me seeing it in the first place, being a long-term lover of documentaries and loving the animals included and depicted. The Arctic is a very familiar habitat in documentaries with it being explored frequently, but never feels old because it and its inhabitants (also frequently seen) are timeless. Queen Latifah is a bit take and leave for me and part of me thought is she a good fit.
Seeing 'Arctic Tale', it is a long way from bad. There are many fantastic things here and much of the footage is captivating, not to mention that it is impeccably made. 'Arctic Tale' also struck me as wildly uneven, with the narration (writing more than the delivery actually), music and the uncertain target audience being issues. It is a long way from being one of the best nature documentaries out there and is not a milestone, but it is also a long way from being one of the worst and there is no doubt that it had very good intentions.
Will start with what 'Arctic Tale' does well, which is a lot. The production values are absolutely impeccable all round. This is another fine example of an environment that is exquisite to look at but very harsh with its challenges, photographed vividly and beautifully. This is much more than cute animals in beautiful environments like the advertising may suggest. Absolutely loved the animals, which were a great mix of adorable, sympathetic and dangerous. Celia is impossible to resist and any scene depicting any kind of parental love is enough to warm the heart, will agree that the male polar bear veers on the sadistic side but not in a way that unbalances things.
The footage takes the breath away, evoking a wide range of emotions while also being educational (if not innovative). Did appreciate that it didn't have human scenes that choppily interrupted the flow, and appreciated too that it did address the issues with global warming and its consequences (though it could have gone further with it). This is actually very important to address and to me it does need to be addressed more if some are seemingly not taking its seriousness in. The story is very cute and touching, making one effortlessly root for the animals. While the narration was patchy in writing, Latifah actually brings sass and sympathetic edge to the delivery.
For my tastes though, the writing of the narration was too schmaltzy and tried too hard to be hip with some now very outdated language, there are also parts where it felt on the preachy side and that there could have been a lot less of it. As a result it did make me question the target audience, there are times where it does have story content that aims and does succeed in doing so in being accessible to children and then has information in terminology and tone that is more understandable for adults.
Didn't care for the music that much either, it was too overpowering, occasionally spelled out the emotions too much and needed a gentler touch to fit more with the more intimate parts rather than one that was trying to be more cinematic than needed. It was also too modern and like an attempt to appeal to a wider audience or something. Also thought that 'Arctic Tale' plays it too safe, the conflict could have been bigger and bolder (not enough of the pull no punches approach here) and there is a sense that it was trying to be careful not to offend. Admirable but it did mean that in terms of exploring the facts properly and addressing the global warming it was a bit too sketchy.
In conclusion, beautifully made and well intentioned but doesn't quite reach full potential. 6/10.
