C+

“Sharks 3D” is in effect the second part of an underwater IMAX trilogy that began with “Ocean Wonderland 3D” in 2003 and continues with the oncoming “Deep Sea 3D.” Like its predecessor, the picture is “narrated” by a turtle named Aris (voiced by Geoffrey Bateman), which introduces us to various species of sharks (as well as other aquatic creatures encountered during the journey) as it makes its way around the ocean depths. The 42-minute movie offers some solid information about sharks, but is also designed by Jean-Michel Cousteau, the president and chairman of the Ocean Futures Society who serves as the film’s producer, as a warning about their endangered status and a means of encouraging preservation efforts.

One has to appreciate the time and effort that must have gone into collecting this footage in difficult conditions–the cinematography of Gavin McKinney is all the more remarkable under the circumstances–and the good intentions behind it. The 3D effects, moreover, are impressive without being too obvious, as is often the case. At the same time, the film isn’t the breathtaking experience it was clearly intended to be. It’s a good, respectable piece of underwater filmmaking, but not an especially innovative or entrancing one. And the material it provides on each of the shark species is slighter than one might wish.

So as family entertainment, “Sharks 3D” isn’t bad. It’s just not great.