15 Most Overrated Movies Of The Decade (So Far)

2. Life Of Pi

Life Of Pi has lots working against it. The main character is needlessly quirky, the story is painfully meandering and the whole thing is injected with a self-assured air of smugness. But the biggest problem comes with how it tries to tie this all together.

In a sudden third act twist, it's revealed the eventless middle hour showing a teenage Pi co-existing on a lifeboat with a tiger named after Spider-Man's Dad was in fact an elaborate coping mechanism he dreamt up to shield himself from a much more horrific truth (he only survived by becoming a murderer and a cannibal). After two hours of light and bright symbolism, this is a dark turn that paints much of the film in a more sombre light.

And then the film just sidesteps it. Pi asks a writer, who he's been telling his "true" life story in an attempt to try and convince him to believe in God, which version he "prefers" (tiger and monkey or evil chef and dead mother). The writer says the one with the tiger, to which Pi says (and this is a direct quote from the film), "and so it goes with God."

You get the distinct feeling that Ang Lee has the same high-reaching goals as Pi, attempting to foster spiritualism, but is essentially saying "believe in God, it's more fun, even if it isn't true". Utter claptrap.