There was just something about this whole “Disney Nature” and “Earth” thing that kind of irked me. Here, we have one of the largest corporations in the world, promoting the Discovery Channel’s whole “our planet is awesome” schtick, and sorry, but I wasn’t biting. Having said that though, I will now redact some of my cynicism. On the one hand, Earth has some amazing photography and gets some gorgeous shots of various vistas and lifefoms on our planet. On the other hand though, it really doesn’t add anything new and it doesn’t say or doing anything that I could have gotten out of any one of a hundred previous nature documentaries.

It was Earth Day and the theatre was fairly full; I guess seeing a movie with a kind of environmental message on the day set aside to recognize such a message is literally the least you could do. And that’s the main problem, this movie literally feels like the least that could be done. Again, let’s be straight, what’s been done is amazing, but there really is no context beyond the pageantry and drama of the animals’ struggle in the small stretch of wilderness left on this world. And frankly, I’m not sure whether I should be relieved or perturbed by the fact that the filmmakers offered what is basically a pro-environmental film without context on the issue.

Constructed simply enough, Earth follows three families during a year in the life: polar bears struggling to find food while racing the rapidly vanishing ice, a mother and son elephant travelling miles across the Africa desert to topical abode and a pair of humpback whales that leave the safety of tropical waters to reach the food rich Antarctic. Along the way, other animals in other regions are photographed as they go about their lives hunting, feeding and mating. It’s hard not to appreciate the diversity of life on this planet as it plays out on film and it’s hard not to appreciate the richness of the images collected by the filmmakers or doubt the ingenuity needed to capture them.

The film kind of touches on the issues of global warming and climate change in the polar bear sequences, but with the narration of James Earl Jones of all people it almost sounds like more of a nuscence than anything. It sure doesn’t sound like a kind of serious problem. Sure there’s less ice now in the summer, but scientists are warning that in a few years, maybe even next year, there’ll probably be no ice, and that’s going to affect a lot of polar bears. Similarly, issues of human encroachment and natural resource abuse kind of get a shout out, but it seemed kind of noncommittal;  a kind of disclaimer for public notice, like the warnings on boxes of cigarettes.

But I did admire how the film didn’t shy away from the brutality of nature, or at least acceptable, G-rated brutality. It did strike me though that while the camera had no trouble watching a Great White Shark chomping on a seal, it cuts away pretty quick when an arctic wolf catches up to an infant caribou. But even given the flaws, Earth is still great eye candy, and it’s one of those movies that everyone can enjoy. It’s beautifully shot and marvellously composed and it flows easily enough to encompass a decent portion of life on Earth, though I’m sure the deleted scenes will be killer. Aesthetically pleasing, but at its heart rather empty, Earth is a pretty okay first film from Disney Nature, even if it is just a corporate sham.