It's no secret the makers of Arctic Tale were aiming for a March of the Penguins repeat. Nor is it a secret that with Arctic Tale they missed the mark almost entirely. Granted it still stands as about 90 minutes of high definition nature footage that blows the mind at times, but the magic of March of the Penguins remains unmatched.
Arctic Tale follows two separate animals through the harsh arctic wilderness. Nanu, a polar bear, starts her adventure under the protection of her mother with her brother by her side. Struggling to find food in an ever changing environment, the polar bear trio works hard tracking down seals, fish and whatever else they can find to sustain them. Meanwhile, Seela, a baby walrus, experiences similar plights as her family swims and waddles about looking for safe places to relax on land. Both Seela and Nanu experience a few hardships here and there but, and to be fair, the loss suffered by Seela may be the best part of the entire film.
If you thought March of the Penguins suffered from the occasional dry spell, Arctic Tale will bore you to tears. Unfortunately, in this case we can't blame the animals for living existences "too mundane" for filmed entertainment. If you think about it, March of the Penguins without a narrator would have been excruciatingly boring. Morgan Freeman saved March and Arctic Tale has no such savior. Instead, Arctic Tale has Queen Latifah. The very fact that Queen Latifah was chosen for a role first filled by Freeman demonstrates a seeming ignorance of the hierarchy of Hollywood nobility. Queen Latifah, despite her titular implication of royalty, is less than Morgan Freeman. Always has been, always will be. Casting her as the voice over comes as a near smack in the face to audiences expecting a high-quality narrated experience. I can just imagine the producers saying "She's got spunk! Her attitude will bring life to Arctic Tale!" Arctic Tale is already brimming with life. It's got the whole "life" thing down. It doesn't need an infusion of large, sassy woman voice to do that.
As a mild defense of Queen Latifah's meager talents, the script for the narration was miserable. Abandoning any semblance of informative dialogue, Arctic Tale just goes full out in the direction of "cute" and never looks back. Maybe they realized it, maybe they didn't - but in doing so Arctic Tale isolates the older audience by offering them little more than pretty pictures of nature. The footage they captured (which apparently took more than four years if you trust the extras on the disc) has brilliant moments but in no way does it hold its out without narration - and Latifah's performance ruins it.
Even with a better narrator (say Michael Caine, Glenn Close, Denzel Washington, hell even Big Bird) Arctic Tale had a lot to overcome. The "tale" shown here just never grips the audience all that tight. There are a few moments of emotion and a few of genuine tension, but the other 60 minutes is just Queen Latifah attempting to draw out drama that isn't all that interesting. The best moment of the film comes at the sacrifice of one of the walruses the film had been following and instead of fueling the "that's awesome" angle, we're bludgeoned into thinking "Awesome - I mean, heartbreaking. I feel for that blubbered-up sabretooth seal". Arctic Tale, with all of its environmental messages from children during the credits, makes no effort to hide its agenda. It's environmentally minded through and through and takes great pains to convert your children to their cause. That unto itself isn't a bad goal, but it'd be a shame to give the credit for such an achievement to such a poorly conceived film.
Blu-ray Bonus Features
It's actually funny how much better the "Making of Arctic Tale" is than the film itself. Sure, it dwells much more on the human factor and the toils of trying to get footage in the unforgiving environs of the north - but it's actually interesting. The filmmaker who devoted all his time to the endeavor is downright likeable and feels like a much saner version of Timothy Treadwell (see Grizzly Man if you haven't). Besides the trailer, the only other extra feature is "Are We There Yet? World Adventure: Polar Bear Spotting" which, like the other extra feature, surpasses the film in quality. It might not rely so much on the "aww, look at the cute polar bear" factor, but the kids who star have their act together and its presented in a way that's entertaining and blissfully short.
Arctic Tale pales in comparison to its penguin predecessor. Add to that problem the fact that once Nanu and Seela are grown they're not really all that cute anyways (not that walruses are ever really "cute"). In fact, unlike penguins, these are two animals that are neither cute nor all that friendly. Even Coca-Cola has the good sense to import CGI polar bears. The bottom line: Arctic Tale has value for its nature footage, but as a dramatic or narrative piece it suffers from poor narration and no real story.
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"Arctic Tale" is on sale April 21, 2009 and is rated G. Documentary. Directed by Adam Ravetch, Sarah Robertson. Written by Linda Woolverton, Mose Richards. Starring Queen Latifah.
