Movie review: 'Born to Be Wild 3D'

The captivating documentary "Born to Be Wild 3D" spotlights the wonderful efforts of matchless ladies  elephant authority Daphne M. Sheldrick & famed primatologist Biruté Mary Galdikas  who have dedicated their lives to the rescue & rehabilitation of orphaned, endangered animals. Although it runs a fleet 40 minutes, the film proves a rich & memorable journey.

Warmly directed by David Lickley & introduced in arresting IMAX 3-D, the film shuttles between Kenya-based Sheldrick's work raising child elephants & Galdikas' labors on behalf of orangutans in the Borneo rain forest. With the help of their devoted native teammates, these veteran conservationists tirelessly prepare their animals for reentry in to the wild, doing everything, well, humanly feasible to duplicate the presence of the creatures' natural parents & original habitats.

The film skilfully compresses this long, painstaking technique in to a kind of highlights reel, offering a rare glimpse at the start-to-finish cycles of Sheldrick & Galdikas' inspiring work. It also sweetly underscores the plenty of bonds & parallels between man & beast.

Cinematographer David Douglas sumptuously captures both the largesse of the movie's exotic locales & the intimate details of its featured animals. From amusingly vivid shots, including small orangutans being hand-bathed or tangling with a clothesline, & kid elephants sucking down giant bottles of milk formula or playing with a soccer ball, the film never succumbs to cute for cute's sake. Its moments of "aah" as well as awe  feel amazingly authentic.

It ought to be noted that, unlike plenty of movies these days, "Born to Be Wild" makes nice use of its 3-D format, enjoyably enhancing what is already a thoroughly immersive experience.

Morgan Freeman's dulcet narration (written by producer Drew Fellman) effectively explains the basic workings of Sheldrick & Galdikas' missions. A feature-length documentary, however, could have likely provided a deeper, more personal look at the ladies themselves, not to mention greater insight in to the physical & financial aspects of their operations.