Newly orphaned Phoenix Wilder (Sam Ashe Arnold) travels to South Africa to live with his Aunt Sarah (Elizabeth Hurley). She runs a safari outfit with her husband Uncle Jack from his family compound. Elephants on the reserve are being hunted by illegal poachers. Phoenix gets lost while on an outing and befriends an elephant.
Phoenix surprising the poachers is a silly conceit. He has a slow-moving giant elephant with him. The poachers have to be dumb and blind to not see him coming. All of it is staged like a Disney kiddie show. It's always a little weird when a kid has to Home Alone the bad guys when the bad guys are geared for war. As for Uncle Jack, it's an unwelcome revelation. It muddies the simple morality without giving back something compelling. It's nice to see the animals but this is a bad kiddie movie.
Phoenix surprising the poachers is a silly conceit. He has a slow-moving giant elephant with him. The poachers have to be dumb and blind to not see him coming. All of it is staged like a Disney kiddie show. It's always a little weird when a kid has to Home Alone the bad guys when the bad guys are geared for war. As for Uncle Jack, it's an unwelcome revelation. It muddies the simple morality without giving back something compelling. It's nice to see the animals but this is a bad kiddie movie.