‘Earth’ *** 1/2
The following is a capsule review of “Earth,” which opened Wednesday. For the full review, visit chicagotribune.com/movies.
It would be Pollyannish to pretend that the documentary “Earth” is without its problems, but what it does well is so remarkable that by the time the credits roll you likely won’t want it to end.
This film is the direct descendant of “Planet Earth,” the astonishing 11-hour BBC series that played widely on the Discovery Channel and sold millions of DVDs. In fact, an estimated 60 percent of “Earth’s” footage has already been seen at home. While this is not ideal, the reality is that so much of that footage is so compelling that it’s a pleasure to see it again on a theatrical screen.
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In keeping with the Walt Disney Co. approach, the nature photography this time around, co-directed by Alastair Fothergill and Mark Linfield and shot by some 60 cameramen, is focused on the trials of three animal families. Up in the Arctic, a mother polar bear and her two cubs look for food in the barren snows. In Africa’s Kalahari desert, elephants fight off drought as they head for the promised lushness of the Okavango Delta. And under the sea, a humpback whale and her calf navigate a 4,000-mile migration.
The theme of “Earth” is always the struggle of the different species to find enough to eat and survive. The fang-and-claw stuff is invariably most compelling.
Less successful is the voice-over delivered by James Earl Jones. While the “Planet Earth” narration was crisp and to the point, the talk here is much too cutesy and anthropomorphic for its own good. But even if you have to put cotton in your ears when you see “Earth,” keep your eyes wide open and you’ll be amply rewarded.