March of the Penguins

Review by Jason Gaston

Thanks to this documentary, I now completely understand how badly it must suck to be a penguin. No more will I lie in bed at night wondering what it would be like to waddle across the ice of the Antarctic or to dive into the icy waters below to grab a fish or two to have a meal.

Those Coca Cola commercials are full of crap. The life of a penguin is a difficult and miserable one as March of the Penguins is all too eager to point out. However, instead of becoming a boring testament to the struggles of one species against nature, March of the Penguins always remains hopeful and always remains bright. If anything, this hope and positive attitude makes this a wonderful and educating experience.

And, of course, if any movie can show me something I haven't seen or didn't know, I love it.

So, what's this movie about? The birds and the bees. Those birds being penguins and the bees being "Brrrrrrrrrrrrrr, it's cold!"

Every year, as it had been done for centuries, the emperor penguins of the South Pole march single file for up to seventy miles to reach their breeding grounds. There, where the ice is thicker and there are fewer predators, they will lay an egg and hatch new life... but in doing so, they will go without food for up to four months, endure the most ferocious winter on the planet, and make the incredible trek to the water several times all so their little babies can grow up and tell their parents that they don't understand anything when they are teenagers.

I loved this movie and its everything that a documentary should be. It's informative, the information is presented in an interesting way, the information is little-known making this an experience that most will gain from, and the scenery that the movie captures is incredible in its scope and beauty.

Best of all, despite being a G rated film, March of the Penguins doesn't skimp out on the ol' circle of life thing. There is death in the movie and it's not sugar coated. March of the Penguins captures a remarkable side of nature, but it also captures her unforgiving side as well.

This is a great movie. For goodness sake, let your kids see this instead of the brain-dead drivel that's being passed off as children's entertainment. If you're going to take your kid to a movie about birds, skip Chicken Little and see this one instead!