Les ailes de la vie

I have heard of Disneynature before but, it was a trailer for "Chimpanzee", but back then I thought it was going to be just another documentary about creature's lives, formed into a story.

At first when I looked at this documentary, "wings of life" my first impression was it was going to be about butterflies, and birds and bees and all those flying pollinators. but I was in for a surprise. That surprise was what got me hooked up, the documentary was literally turned into a story, like a nature ballet and the "star actors" are the flowers, inanimate and slightly motionless yet "given souls" as though the flowers were talking themselves, whereas the pollinators are more like supporters in the play. Disney has earned credit for that many times (if you still remember "Flowers and Trees"), turning objects into actors with souls.

Even though Disneynature is just a division of the major company, its documentary still carries that surreal magic, its a great movie, I would recommend it to anyone.

*Advanced Warning!* - I strongly recommend that you watch this DisneyNature documentary without the truly irksome "I-am-a-flower" narration (spare me!) from veteran, Hollywood actress, Meryl Streep.

I suggest that you turn off Streep's droning voice and turn on some of your favourite ambient music and enjoy watching Wings Of Life (WOL, for short) in that much more pleasant mode.

With Streep's preposterous narration aside - I guarantee that the images you are about to see in this 80-minute documentary are, without question, a truly fantastic and wonderful feast for the eyes.

When it comes to WOL's visuals - It was so clear to see that absolutely no expense was spared to present to the viewer some of the most vivid and astoundingly beautiful imagery imaginable.

Believe me, had it not been for Streep's annoying narration, then I would have not hesitated giving WOL a full 8-star rating, no questions asked.

There is an interesting core to this film about the role and evolution of flowers and some of their various pollinators, and it probably could have been edited into a better, shorter movie.

Where the movie falls short is, firstly, on the narration. Wishy-washy dialogue drags on and on, trying to sound magical or something. I'd prefer straightforward, factual narration that would be simpler for kids to understand.

The second problem is that the ending gets into environmentalist propaganda. I'd prefer if the movie was just an innocent nature documentary and not pushing an agenda to turn our kids into activists.

The documentary shows the importance of pollination for human survival. There is more than beauty to "Pollen", the documentary serves as a wake-up call as the romance between flowers and pollinators is threatened by pesticides, habitat loss, mites and environmental stress imposed by humans.

The result is a visually stunning film!

"The important food for the community would not be produced or distributed worldwide if it weren't for the millenary collaboration between a bee and a flower" beautiful comment on the importance of pollinators for biodiversity and human existence, beautiful images, super zoom and slow motion, we are graced with this beautiful documentary, beautiful, beautiful... "Plant us in the backyard or on a roof garden."

Was expecting a lot of great things from 'DisneyNature: Wings of Life'. Disney and nature documentaries sound like a perfect combination for fans of either or both, being somebody in the latter category. The subject did sound fascinating and different from the other DisneyNature documentaries. Meryl Streep is no stranger to narration, she narrated a few of the Rabbit Ears Productions literary adaptations from the 80s and 90s and beautifully.

'DisneyNature: Wings of Life' didn't quite deliver enough for me and am saying this with regret. As usual for DisneyNature documentaries, it looks absolutely amazing as are the inhabitants focused upon and their journeys. Like other DisneyNature documentaries, it does suffer from severely flawed narration. Both in writing and delivery. While 'Wings of Life' is a lot better than particularly 'Born in China' and 'Elephant', if you want to see a great DisneyNature documentary 'Earth' is your best bet followed by 'Oceans' and 'African Cats'.

As has been said above, 'Wings of Life' excels the most in the visuals. Simply put, visually it looks amazing. Especially the gorgeous photography that is more cinematic than quite a lot released at the time. The colours are wonderfully vivid and there is a wide variety in the locations and habitats, all of them beautiful-looking while also uncompromising. Enough of the music is grandoise and characterful, while not being too jaunty or overbearing.

The animals etc. themselves are so photogenic and their personalities fascinate and move. Some very sweet, humorous and moving scenes here in 'Wings of Life', nothing is too childish or too dark and the struggles are relatable and worth investing in. Enough of the information interests.

Other DisneyNature documentaries though did a lot better on the educational front, what is provided here is not very illuminating or fresh (or certainly not enough), as well as on the entertainment value. Did appreciate that 'Wings of Life' didn't go down the too jokey route, but at times it felt almost too serious and not as involving as it could have been.

Letting 'Wings of Life' down most is the narration. The writing is too over-explanatory, patronising and a case of mentioning the facts but doesn't really explore them properly. Streep's delivery disappoints too, she has a lovely speaking voice but the sincerity and warmth that was there in her Rabbit Ears Productions' narrations is not present here. Here she sounds bored or like her heart wasn't really in it, like a teacher reading from a science text book out loud in class while in half asleep mode.

In summary, above average but could have been a lot better. 6/10