Let's face the, um, ugly truth: Many critters in the world, humans included, aren't exactly pretty, handsome or generally attractive in adult mode. Take, for instance, the American alligator. Not even taking into account its nasty disposition and desire to eat you if possible, there's the matter of that scaly skin, the serious dental issues and more. Yet, when they're babies, gators are pretty darn cute.
And so it goes for most of the animal world, especially for species in our immediate, domesticated world. After all, only the grinches of the world can't have their hearts warmed and then melted by the sight of kittens, puppies and yes, human babies. The latter might result in sleepless nights and more for the parents, but their looks as well as being completely reliable on others to survive and the fact that they're literally miniature versions of the rest of us means they automatically elicit the "aww" response in most adults (that is, until the terrible twos and then the middle teens make their unwelcome appearance).
In the documentary "Babies," director Thomas Balmes doesn't bother himself with those adolescent years (or covering the offspring of any other species) and instead focuses solely on human babies from just before birth up through the taking of the first upright steps. Following four children across the globe -- in Namibia, Mongolia, Tokyo and San Francisco -- the filmmaker lets the pictures and natural sound impart his theme that kids are all basically the same regardless of where or how they grow up.
I'm not sure anyone's really going to be surprised by that underlying theme (although nature vs. nurture clearly comes more into play as the kids get older and take on -- or reject -- their cultural norms). All of which means the pic essentially boils down to watching four kids (and their other family members, including pets) just doing their thing.
Those with children of the same age or who fondly recall the same from their past will obviously see parallels with their own experiences. Yet, as a documentary, the film doesn't really do much beyond elicit such responses while cutting back and forth among the four "stories" and visually noting the similarities of development from birth to those toddler years.
While voice-over narration can be grating in some documentaries -- especially in those where the script has the narrator anthropomorphizing non-human animals -- it probably would have served this offering quite well. With its absence here, we never learn anything that most of us don't already know. I would have liked to have heard about the physiological, mental and emotional development during those early years, or even how that compares to the young offspring of other animals and how their parents interact -- or not -- with them.
All of which means this turns into the equivalent of "American's Funniest Videos" without humorous quips from the host or the benefit of editing the footage into shorter bites. The camera simply rolls and we see long clips of the kids doing what they naturally do. Yes, much of it's adorable (including but certainly not limited to watching a girl's eyes as she's strolled through a toy store for what seems could be the first time and seeing how patient pets can be in the company of said kids), but even as the footage progresses through the scant years, it all becomes fairly repetitive.
Cute can only carry the film so far, and without any additional substance or information, the film starts to feel a bit long even with just a fairly short 79 minutes runtime. It's hard to tell if parents will make this a hit like "March of the Penguins," especially since that film focused on animals with which most people only had superficial knowledge, gave them something of a linear, A to Z storyline, and explained what was going on.
Yes, that film probably would have worked without narration (the visuals would have imparted most of what we needed to know), but the au natural mode here makes "Babies" feel like a series of home movies that don't teach us anything beyond the obvious. It rates as a 5 out of 10 simply for its cute factor.
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