We at Aquaviews, love to watch and review any movie even remotely connected to scuba diving, marine conservation or anything related to the sea, as we know how much we scuba folk can’t get enough of the water even when we’re not diving. So here’s yet another review of a marine animated adventure.
While a first for an animated movie that doesn’t belong to the Pixar, Sony or the Dreamworks family, Sammy’s Adventures: The Secret Passage released in 2010, is a Belgian animated film produced in English. It was directed by Ben Stassen and features the voice talents of Isabelle Fuhrman, Tim Curry, Melanie Griffith and Jenny McCarthy. The film was released in August 2010.
In a turtleshell (pun intended) Sammy’s adventure is about A green sea turtle who was hatched in 1959 spends the next 50 years traveling the world while it is being changed by global warming. It’s about the world changing through the lens of a sea turtle, as well as Sammy’s personal quest to fulfill his journey as a turtle.
Belgian based animation company nWave has really outdone itself with this feature length animation. The movie is truly a pleasure for the eye, with breathtaking animation reality and lighting which makes it a visually appealing experience for all involved. With visuals as stunning if not more stunning than Pixar and Dreamworks animations, nWave is a company to watch out for. Its a shame we missed the 3D version when it came out in theaters.
The storyline begins with Sammy’s hatching on a beach, and how he makes his way into the perilous world by taking his first steps from the nest to reach the ocean riddled by hungry birds, scary sharks, fisherman, hippies, oil slicks and all sorts of adventures as he makes his way into adulthood. The story intertwines a conservation message amongst the adventures as we see how the actions of human beings directly impact turtles and other marine life. From the Oil Slick, excessive fishing, to pollution ,dumping sewage and plastic bags into our oceans, are all obstacles that Sammy must encounter in a changing world. The plot changes more towards the end with Sammy on a quest to look for his mate Shelly, and the movie turns into a romantic quest for a missing sweetheart.
When we first heard of the movie’s release in 3D we thought to ourselves,” oh no not another animated movie by a Pixar wannabe,” it looked and felt like yet another Finding Nemo, but we decided to finally watch and review the film when it released on DVD recently, and were pleasantly surprised. While we are certain the movie will greatly appeal to kids, the visuals and the storyline do captivate the minds of adult viewers as well. Though there were moments in the movie that felt excessive such as when the turtles get attacked by Piranhas, then eagles; and often it felt as though the directors were trying to pack too many mini-adventures into the movie rather than let the scenes play out.
Overall we’d recommend this movie as its great visuals truly appealed to the Scuba Diver in us, and even though the story was just average, and tended to drag on a bit, it didn’t matter as the underwater scenes and rendering more than kept us glued to our seats. Definitely a movie to check out for a lazy Sunday afternoon when you can’t get your nitrogen fix!
