Ang Lee’s ‘Life of Pi’ is one of the greatest examples I’ve seen on film that takes to heart Ralph Waldo Emerson’s famous proverb “Life is a journey, not a destination.” The film is an astounding production showcasing a mastery over visual effects, storytelling, and 3-D. Based on Yann Martel’s novel of the same name once deemed “unfilmable,” this is a film that joins this year’s ‘Cloud Atlas‘ as some of the most successfully ambitious films ever made.

The film opens to a conversation between a middle-aged Piscine “Pi” Patel (Irfan Khan) and a writer (Rafe Spall) looking for an awe-inspiring story. Pi tells the writer he has an amazing and true story, one that he’s experienced as a teenager, and that it’ll make him believe in God. And so begins the retelling of Pi’s 277 days stranded at sea while sharing a boat with a Bengal Tiger named Richard Parker.

Richard Parker was part of the zoo Pi’s family owned in India. When they were forced to sell the zoo and start a new life in Canada, the family and animals traveled across the sea by a Japanese freight ship. After a massive storm sinks the ship, Pi is left as the sole human survivor. Soon a zebra, orangutan, hyena, and Richard Parker join Pi on his lifeboat. It’s safe to say looming hunger quickly reduces the number of these survivors. Pi (Suraj Sharma) and Richard Parker are left as the protagonists, and the majority of the film depicts their intense struggle for survival.

Pi and Richard Parker’s perilous journey is a gateway to scenes of pure beauty, imagination, and wonderment. They encounter various sea creatures including enormous whales and speedy flying fish, exotic locations like a floating island, and luminescent sea water and animals. Ang Lee’s brilliant use of 3D benefits the film with a never-before-seen experience. The 3D effect enriches the marvelous scenery throughout the picture, especially in scenes where water plays a major role (And it does. A lot.). When the camera moves between underwater shots and above-water shots, the middle layer separating the two is given more depth due to the format. The underwater shots, especially during the ship sinking, are terrifyingly effective, submerging you in the entire surrounding. Some of the best shots in ‘Life of Pi’ depict the sea, lifeboat, and sky all in one. It’s one of the many mesmerizing shots the film has – and it has a lot.

This is Suraj Sharma’s first acting role, which is pretty surprising; his performance is impressive, especially since he’s mostly on screen by himself and a CGI animal. Sharma conveys a wide range of emotions as he depicts a young man who seems to never lose hope in spite of the odds against him. Just as absorbing is the performance of the computer generated Bengal Tiger. Apparently a few shots of real life tigers were used but the majority of what’s on screen is computer generated imagery. Richard Parker is a captivating character because he’s clearly a dangerous wild animal, yet somehow Pi manages to survive with him at sea. The film injects some humanity in the wild animal, showing Richard Parker learning and developing through this tough experience.

Director Ang Lee (‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’, ‘Hulk’ & ‘Brokeback Mountain’) has filmed a technical masterpiece. So few films can deliver an emotional and eye-popping experience as ‘Life of Pi’, or even do so this well. The actors are terrific, the cinematography is dazzling, the 3D is top-notch and in the same league as ‘Hugo‘ and ‘Transformers: Dark of the Moon’ in its effective use, and the special effects are nothing short of amazing. Richard Parker is the most enthralling CGI character since Caesar from ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’. This is one of the most memorable, rewarding, and best films I’ve seen all year.

Four out of four Kent's.

Extra Notes:

• Tobey Maguire was originally supposed to play The Writer who interviews the older Pi Patel, but during production Ang Lee decided he was too recognizable and wanted to have an international cast of relatively unknowns. So Rafe Spall (‘Prometheus‘) took over and filmed re-shoots.

• Ang Lee has said if it weren’t for ‘Hulk’ he wouldn’t have had enough experience with CGI to make this film. So there’s proof good can come from anything, including the bad!