Dir.
Tim Liversedge, US, 40 mins
Cast: Lions
Review by Will Davis
The screen at the London IMAX, for first
timers who don't know, is monolithic. In other words the
perfect venue to watch any programme made for National Geographic
Television, breathing life into vast expanses and vistas
by magnifying them into an experience you just can't get
at home, no matter how supersized your plasma screen may
be. Add the 3D element and a pair of comedy shaped sunglasses,
and the old fashioned Hollywood idea of cinema as event has
never been more clearly realised.
Lions 3D is in fact a very simple film nicely structured
into a story of sorts and set in the Kalahari desert. 'The
King', a whopping 10-foot daddy of a lion, lives at a waterhole
with his two lionesses. While they hunt giraffes and antelope,
he lies relaxing in the shade and watches over his territory.
But when a new wandering male lion challenges The King's
rule, his days at the top are numbered.
Watching these lions sleep, roar,
prowl, hunt and hump is a real joy, and the 3D element
only enhances some naturally wonderful sequences, nicely
shaped by Liversedge. There are some great tense scenes
of lionesses sneaking up on their prey at the waterhole
and attacking – including one
particularly impressive shot of an antelope being caught
in mid air. The dusty arid landscape and colourful desert
occupants are pleasant additional elements, and some swooping
shots really prove how much 3D can put you in the picture.
The inevitable point of comparison for nature films these
days is the BBC's Planet Earth series, and before that Godfrey
Reggio's great silent twins of planet earth documentaries
Koyaanisqatsi and Powaqqatsi, all of which spanned the whole
world and delved in and out of numerous natural phenomena,
picking out details and wowing us with a few choice minutes
of extraordinary footage before drifting or diving off elsewhere.
Since Lions 3D is mostly about lions, in terms of scope it
doesn't come off well in comparison. But then Planet Earth
was not in 3D.
For adults, it is just possible that the simplicity of Lions
3D will detract from the viewing pleasure. Disney's The Lion
King is no less informative really, and so an audience expecting
detailed analysis of lion behaviour and thorough examination
of every tail flick, pounce and stool is likely to be disappointed.
Liversedge's film is more interested in cinematic display
than painstakingly observed minutiae. But the lions themselves
have never looked so hulking and impressive; and yet at the
same time fragile and needy. Their dry desert life can scarcely
be described as idyllic and the film does manage to get across
one message: even for the king of beasts, the cycle of life
is a vicious struggle.
Kids are unlikely to have any complaints though, especially
once they've donned the magic spectacles that really are
what marks this film from any number of decently made documentaries
about big cats. One could perhaps have done without the rather
cheap zoom into a roaring lion's mouth right at the end,
but with subject matter this fascinating, who wants to quibble?
This easygoing film may not radicalise your knowledge of
lions, but it is great fun nonetheless.
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