Ill-Informed Gadfly

Among the many astonishing sequences in “Oceans,” several got me thinking about military history. A school of sardines endures its own Pearl Harbor, getting dive-bombed by kamikaze birds and swallowed whole by dolphins, sharks and whales. Newly hatched sea turtles are massacred from above, Omaha Beach-style, during their sun-baked journey from sand to surf. And in the strangest scene, thousands of spider crabs re-enact the battle of Agincourt, clashing like armored knights in close-quarter combat. I wish we got to find out why the crabs fight each other, but “Oceans” is merely an introduction to weird and wonderful marine life, not an advanced course. This French-made documentary begins with a contrived image of a boy staring out to sea, and it regards the creatures therein with childlike wonder. Even a kid-friendly movie could stand to be more honest about the damage humans are doing to the seas. Overfishing, pollution and climate change are mentioned briefly, then followed immediately with bromides about the resilience of marine life or the growing awareness of the need to protect our waters. The movie aims to soothe and reassure, not to inform or provoke. The filmmakers don’t clutter up their images with titles on the screen, leaving narrator Pierce Brosnan to provide all the factual information. It’s a reasonable aesthetic choice, but a few signposts would be helpful. Eventually “Oceans” gets a bit repetitious as it hopscotches around the globe, showing off the fantastic creatures of the deep. But you’ll still spend plenty of time with your mouth agape.