The White Planet

Though it has the misfortune to come after the similarly-themed March of the Penguins, The White Planet is a more all-encompassing look at the animals and creatures that live around the Arctic region. Directors Thierry Ragobert and Thierry Piantanida follow a wide variety of different species – including seals, caribou, and foxes – as they attempt to survive the extremely harsh conditions of their surroundings. And while it’s all very interesting for a while – fascinating, even – the novelty ultimately wears off and the movie essentially adopts the characteristics of a run-of-the-mill wilderness documentary (Ragobert and Piantanida’s questionable directorial choices, including POV shots (!), don’t help matters). That being said, there’s no denying the inherently compelling nature of some of this stuff – eg the film virtually justifies its existence with a sequence in which two ridiculously cute polar bear cubs emerge from their den after a long hibernation – and this is certainly the sort of movie that demands to be seen on as large a screen as possible.

**1/2 out of ****