To the Arctic Reviews
Top Critic
Is there a law that says we can't have some virtuosity with our virtuousness?
Full Review
| Original Score: 2/4
Yes, it's a classy affair, but the 40-minute doc's at-times-nerve-wracking power comes from the subjects who put a furry face on the ongoing and daunting issue of climate change.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3.5/4
A children's choir sings and a graphic of the movie title explodes into ice shards to heighten the dramatic impact. Corny? You bet...
Full Review
| Original Score: 2/4
Yes, there's some spectacular footage. But there's also an awful lot of filler for a 40-minute movie...
Full Review
| Original Score: 1.5/4
Good on you, polar bears, and kudos to the cinematic expertise that captures them, especially underwater.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/5
That suspenseful sequence is balanced by a fair share of aww moments from playful to plaintive, offering lessons in eco-consciousness.
Imax auteur Greg MacGillivray alternates between intimate wildlife saga and majestic views of the North Pole, offering strong visual compensations for its meandering structure, syrupy tone and excessive sampling of Paul McCartney's back catalog.
Unless you're rich, it may be the closest thing to being there.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/4
Its breathtaking photography has a purpose beyond pretty pictures: to remind us that climate change is causing the frigid Arctic to melt, bringing disruption and challenges to the animals who can only live in snow and ice.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/4
"To the Arctic 3-D" is an impassioned plea for action on global warming, and the passion is intensified by the music.
A movie too focused on force-feeding you its agenda is bound to come across as (sorry, but it must be said) overbearing, no matter how beautifully it's packaged.
Full Review
| Original Score: 2.5/4
MacGillivray, a specialist in gigantic-screen nature movies including The Living Sea, is up to date in his use of 70mm IMAX film, but he's stuck in the past about how to tell a story.
Full Review
| Original Score: C+
For all the hardware involved, To the Arctic's ultra-high-def images have an oddly plastic sheen.
Full Review
| Original Score: 2/5
Arguably a good lesson for kids about preserving our environment, To the Arctic is definitely a threat to our equally endangered good taste.
