Earth

Directed by: Alastair Fothergill & Mark Linfield
Written by: Alastair Fothergill, Mark Linfield & Leslie Megahey
Full credits from IMDb

Hoping to cash in on the recent successes of high profile nature documentaries, the newly launched Disneynature releases the plainly titled Earth, a cutesy snapshot of exotic animals and far-flung places. Though it’s directed by the men behind the Discovery Channel’s Planet Earth—and liberally borrows from it—this movie has less in common with that spectacular series than with the cloying March of the Penguins. Regrettably lacking any of the philosophical inquiry of last year’s Oscar nominee Encounters at the End of the World, this film is cheaply predicated on exploiting the cuteness of animal babies. It’s like the best of Planet Earth, cynically repackaged for kids: it’s tweer, bloodless, and packed with groan-worthy jokes. James Earl Jones reads the silly script—“this creature is the very essence of wilderness”; “grass is the great unsung hero of our planet”—with risible gravitas. There are some neat moments—fast-motion flower blooming, a lion-elephant face-off—but it feels like this has all been done before. And better. Grade: C


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