“Great Bear Rainforest,” the newest film at the Great Lakes Science Center’s Cleveland Clinic DOME Theater, opens Nov. 1. Cleveland is the only location in Ohio to see the film and one of only 20 theaters nationwide.
The film, by director and cinematographer Ian McAllister, features breathtaking visuals — from grand sweeping panoramic drone shots of cascading waterfalls and dense forests climbing up jagged snow-capped mountains to underwater shots of dozens of sea lions darting about, slick sea otters casually bobbing on waves and mammoth grizzlies popping up from tall grass like overlarge prairie dogs, as viewers are treated to a tour of the rainforest’s rich diversity on land, sea and stream.
A highlight of the film is the narration by Ryan Reynolds, who brings movie star cache and effortless charisma to his off-camera role. He clearly seems to be enjoying his job as he gets in a mother-in-law joke and a few puns for good measure as he describes the lives and habitats of the Great Bear Rainforest, an area the size of Ireland located in Western Canada that is home to only 17,000 people, nestled between Washington state and the Alaskan panhandle.
Of course, it’s not just the narration that is funny, as the film finds ways to mine bear behavior for slapstick gags. Salmon hunting and tree climbing, in particular, are presented as a source of giggles when they go haywire.
“It was hilarious when the bear fell off the branch, like, he’s a professional that had mastered the technique of falling,” says 11-year-old Bryan Hendking Jr. after seeing the film’s Oct. 19 preview with his brother Benaiah, 8, and his parents, Bryan and Jaleesa Hendking of Shaker Heights.
Bryan Jr. says he wants to be a biologist when he grows up, “because I love animals, they’re really cool.” Despite the bears foreboding stature, Bryan Jr. says he’s a big fan and the film only reinforced that.
“A lot of people are scared of bears, but you probably shouldn’t be,” he says. “They’re more scared of you than you should be of them.”
After a brief pause to consider some of the tension-filled bear-on-bear encounters during the film, he added: “To be honest, if I had one yelling at me, I’d be terrified.” Like a good future biologist, though, he assures he’d stand his ground; not out of bravery, per se, but based on facts.
“They go more than 40 miles per hour, so I wouldn’t have run,” he says.
The film is tailor made for animal fans like Bryan Jr. and since it is made specifically for a screen as big as the DOME Theater, McAllister leans on high-tech cameras and inimitable patience to capture wildlife in a place that might be wilder than any other on earth. Cable-mounted remote cameras allow for intimate close ups with hulking grizzly bears as they fish for salmon, underwater lens and scuba divers bring you face-to-snout with sea lions off the Canadian coast, and high-res slow-mo cameras give you shots of bald eagles so crisp you can count individual water droplets as they swoop down to snatch salmon from a stream.
While the film may move a tad leisurely for the youngest viewers, all ages will appreciate the stunning vistas and animal hijinks. Older kids, in particular, are likely to respond to the film’s human characters: teenage members of First Nation communities, who fish, protect and study this ancient area, including a 12-year-old spirit bear expert and a 15-year-old bear DNA collector. There is little to provoke even the most skittish or faintest of heart, with only a few brief scenes of tension between bears, a momentary storm interlude replete with thunder and lightning, and a few shots of mildly bloody salmon.
The ostensible star of the show — other than Reynolds’ often-cheeky narration — is a spirit bear named Moxie, who the film follows through trials and tribulations. Spirit bears, which are only found in the Great Bear Rainforest, are considered the rarest bear in the world. This subspecies of the North American black bear has white fur from a rare genetic trait and estimates of the entire population range from 50 to 100 in total. While viewers get to glimpse creatures from across the phylum, bears and spirit bears in particular take center stage.
Sara Gonzalez, of Seven Hills, saw the film with her three kids: Abriel, 7, Arianna, 13, and Amaris, 16. While Abriel’s favorite part was a scene where a mother grizzly bear defends her cubs from a larger male bear, Arianna found the opening scene with the spirit bear Moxie to be quite relatable.
“My favorite part was the beginning, when the bear was trying to get up out of hibernation,” says Arianna. “That’s how I am in the morning. I hate getting up in the morning.”
Sara appreciated that the film is family-friendly enough to be appealing across multiple age ranges. While she says she’s always glad for a chance to get out of the house and do something with her kids all together, the “Great Bear Rainforest” was a plus in that it was entertaining and educational.
“I think it was really good on that front,” she says. “I definitely learned some things — some of those species I never even knew about.”
The Hendking boys, who with their parents were members of the Science Center last year and have been to the DOME Theater before, agreed the gigantic screen beat watching shows on an iPad.
“Definitely, definitely,” says Benaiah.
“It was a real good way to spend a Friday, in my opinion,” says Bryan Hendking. “The science center is always a good place to—”
“Learn science,” pipes up Benaiah, helpfully, from beside his dad’s hip.
“Yeah, learn science. Yeah, yeah,” Bryan says, laughing. “Thank you, son.”
“Great Bear Rainforest,” which opens Nov. 1, is 40 minutes long. The Science Center’s fall-winter schedule is 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. on Sundays. The Science Center is closed on Mondays and during all Cleveland Browns daytime home games. For showtimes and tickets, visit greatscience.com.