This effort by the team that brought us "Microcosmos" can't hold a candle to that film.
While the visuals are attractive, they lack the originality and surprise that made "Microcosmos" the wonder that it is. In fact, there isn't a single substantial bit of footage in this film that isn't much like images one might see in nature documentaries from many other sources. These are woven together by a narrative that clearly wasn't written by the griot who tells the "story," but are instead words put into his mouth in a script written by others. The net effect of this leaves one all too often that one is watching stock footage that's been cobbled together.
In the effort to describe everything and anything, this film sacrifices any depth whatsoever. We get, instead, an overly broad and utterly superficial ramble that comes off lacking any sincerity at all. The makers of "Genesis" would have done much better to have focused on one or two aspects of their overly-ambitious "story" rather than sacrificing the wonder and detail that gave "Microcosmos" its unique charm.
The problem isn't that "Genesis" isn't like a Discovery Channel documentary. To the contrary, the problem is precisely that it IS so much like one, but it doesn't have as much depth. Aside from a few pretty pictures, "Genesis" is a disappointment.
While the visuals are attractive, they lack the originality and surprise that made "Microcosmos" the wonder that it is. In fact, there isn't a single substantial bit of footage in this film that isn't much like images one might see in nature documentaries from many other sources. These are woven together by a narrative that clearly wasn't written by the griot who tells the "story," but are instead words put into his mouth in a script written by others. The net effect of this leaves one all too often that one is watching stock footage that's been cobbled together.
In the effort to describe everything and anything, this film sacrifices any depth whatsoever. We get, instead, an overly broad and utterly superficial ramble that comes off lacking any sincerity at all. The makers of "Genesis" would have done much better to have focused on one or two aspects of their overly-ambitious "story" rather than sacrificing the wonder and detail that gave "Microcosmos" its unique charm.
The problem isn't that "Genesis" isn't like a Discovery Channel documentary. To the contrary, the problem is precisely that it IS so much like one, but it doesn't have as much depth. Aside from a few pretty pictures, "Genesis" is a disappointment.