By Peter Covino

Lifestyles Editor

And I always thought it was sharks that made us afraid to go in the water.

Thanks to Ang Lee’s wondrous new film, The Life of Pi, we just might need to add the tiger.

On the surface, The Life of Pi looks like it just might be a warm and fuzzy Disney animal film. But this tale about a disaster at sea, is an epic journey of adventure and self-discovery.

Based on Yann Martel’s Life of Pi, it’s centerpiece is

Pi, as a teenager (though we also get to see him as an adult and a young boy).

Even as a child, the Asian Indian boy is a complex character. He tries on different religionst religions (Hindu, Catholic, Muslim), an exporatory process that will serve him well later on in the film.

As a teen, economic hardships make his family decide to move (including the zoo they own) to Canada. While at sea, a major storm occurs, sinking the ship and changing Pi’s life dramatically forever.

Whether Pi’s story is fable or reality, is never quite revealed, but it is astounding none-the-less, and it serves as an excuse for some of the best 3D ever in a film. This is no gimmicky in-your-face effects, but scenes that are truly multi-dimenstional.

The scenes are so real, you probably will jump in your theater seat when that tiger jumps out at Pi, who must look mighty tasty after several days at sea.

The entire sequence of Pi at sea, which must take up a good hour of the film at least, is one astounding scene after another, including a night encounter will jellyfish as well as one with a whale. The effects are just astounding.

This part of the story is also particulalry moving and expertly done. The only characters are Pi and the tiger (earlier there also was a zebra, hyena and orangatan but their fate was not as good as that of the tiger and Pi) and their very uneven co-existence, that sort of grows into a kind of respect.

This is one of the few times I have seen a movie in 3D, where seeing it as a 2D film seems unthinkable.

A word of parental caution  here. Usually films with animals are very much kid friendly, but The Life of Pi holds little interest for children under 10 or so. And the tiger is the stuff that nightmares are made of.

The Life of Pi opens in theaters nationwide, including Central Florida, Wednesday.

Critic's rating: B+

Rated PG-13