The life of an antelope is a precarious one, especially in a nature documentary about big African cats. Not only will you be chased and devoured, you won’t even get a cute name like the ones given to the lions and cheetahs.
Truly, this is a walk-on role, until Disney decides to make “African
Antelopes.” But this film is called “African Cats,” and the felines are the stars.
Narrator Samuel L. Jackson, who sounds like he relishes his role, introduces us to an area of savannah divided by a river. On one side of the river, a lion pride roams, led by an aging male (with an indecorous broken tooth hanging from his mouth). The focus is on a cub named Mara and her protective mother.
On the other side, a lone cheetah raises her five tiny cubs. Although the emphasis is on cats, there are plenty of cameo appearances by other animals, including crocodiles, elephants, and hippopotami.
In Disney fashion, assigning names to the main animals is just the beginning; we also get various anthropomorphic tendencies, including the idea that Mara thinks her father is “the best Dad ever,” and that “nothing is stronger than the bond between mothers and daughters” in the lion world.
Which is good, if it’s true, because the movie has to admit that adult African male cats will sometimes attack cubs. As with so many nature documentaries, menace is part of the action, and this film offers up plenty of suspenseful moments: cheetah facing down hyena, lion roaring at crocodile.
Some of these end with an animal being caught and eaten, which makes the G rating something to be taken under consideration. Nature is a jungle, even when it’s the wide-open savannah.
The question with yet another nature documentary is: What makes this one new? “African Cats” offers photography that is absolutely gorgeous and at times remarkably close-up. Yes, there’s creative editing to stir up conflict, a little trick that has always been part of nature films.
But many times you see close-in views of attacker and defender in the same shot, moments that make you feel privileged to be looking in on this wild world. All right, I surrender; for its nature photography alone, “African Cats” is justified.
“African Cats”
The prospect of yet another Disney nature documentary (complete with animals with cute names) is justified by the gorgeous photography of the African savannah, which gives some exciting close-in views of nature at play and conflict. The stars in this one: a pride of lions and a mama cheetah.
Rated: G
Showing: Alderwood mall, Galaxy Monroe, Marsyville, Meridian, Thorton Place, Woodinville, Cascade Mall
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