SAMMY’S ADVENTURES :THE SECRET PASSAGE ( in 3-D) Movie Review. PRETTY, so-very-CUTE TURTLES to ENTHRALL You.

SAMMY’S ADVENTURES in 3-D PRESS REVIEW.

Now, I hear from the grapevine that SAMMY’S ADVENTURES is shot on a relatively modest budget.

How modest is modest?

I am enamored, as it is a stunning movie.

This made-in-Belgium animated film showcases the spectacular marine life in the dazzling splendor of 3D.

What’s the heck!

I find it hard to swallow that painstaking 3-D animated features can be produced on shoe-string budgets, given this kind of creative hi-definition.

And I’d like to dispel the notion of low budget here, because extraordinary animation is always steep, never cheap.

The plot is simple.

It’s about this magical element called LOVE.

LOVE is universal

and it transcends to all animals, amphibians and mammals alike.

The late philosopher ERICH FROMM once said:

“Who will tell whether one happy moment of love or the joy of breathing or walking on a bright morning and smelling the fresh air, is not worth all the suffering and effort which life implies.”

We witness SAMMY the turtle (Yuri Lowenthal) as he embarks on his journey across oceans on a LOVE quest – to search for a SOUL-mate.

Even turtles fall in LOVE … (that’s so sweet, smile).

SAMMY is scrambling for the sea shortly after hatching out of his shell.

He has the hots for another hatch-ling named SHELLY (Jenny McCarthy), but is separated from her upon falling onto an old craft which then drifts far out into the open sea.

We are taken on SAMMY’s long voyage of discovery spanning a period 50 years from 1959 to 2009, fraught with perils.

Aside uncovering the secrets of the sea beds, he has to battle sharks, piranhas and eagles whilst travelling the world’s oceans.

With his best buddy RAY, SAMMY is appalled to observe how humans brutalize the planet.

At the close of his many adventures, SAMMY manages to find SHELLY only to lose her again due to unfortunate circumstances.

SAMMY then vows to continue the search for SHELLY – irregardless of how the odds may be.

The underwater world in 3D cinematography is totally kick-ass.

You are made to “sense” impending dangers “lurking” when you witness tortoises and other sea animals fleeing for dear life, darting straight at you from your seat.

I actually stretched my hand

and try to “touch” SAMMY which seems to be only a few feet away from my grasp.

It’s this near, this REAL.

This is a sweet, so-sweet family movie with “a heart and a soul” for children and adults alike.

Directed by BEN STASSEN, this movie features the voice talents of ISABELLE FUHRMAN, TIM CURRY and MELANIE GRIFFITH.

My colleague who attends this preview seems to pick a gripe on the storyline, script, some more …..

Maybe at times, the movie reeks like a documentary that touches on the marine life with corals, dolphins, fishes, whales and even penguins looming right before you.

Perhaps the movie also emphasises on environmental issues such as destruction and pollution.

I, on the other hand, leave the cinema with a great feeling after sharing the exhilarating adventures of SAMMY the cute turtle.

SAMMY’S ADVENTURES is one stylish, deliberately paced treatise with vibrant imagery and a competent voice talent ensemble.

It has a bouncy, mesmerizing musical score as a bonus.

It charts a green turtle’s stoic search for happiness, innocence and true love over five long decades.

At the end of it all, this Reviewer is truly charmed and humbled by the experience.