New ‘Pi’ trailer: Can a single movie contain this much magic?

In a little more than 48 hours, we’ll have a pretty clear indication of whether Ang Lee’s CGI-kissed, 3-D adaptation of “Life of Pi” casts a spell of magic or nausea. Given Lee’s resume and undeniable talent, we’ll err toward the former, but the international trailer below, released Wednesday in advance of the movie’s Friday evening premiere at the New York Film Festival, doesn’t exactly soft-sell its charms.

Coldplay and Sigur Ros? Computer-generated armies of meerkats and dolphins? A magical, phosphorescent humpback whale leaping upward into a starry, starry sky? Can one film contain all these things and still retain the source material’s gentle spirit? If there’s truth behind the movie’s tagline -- “Believe the unbelievable” -- the answer may be yes. At worst, it’s probably the movie equivalent of a chocolate chip cookie dunked in warm milk for those complaining that “The Master” is too emotionally remote.

We’ll round up the early reviews as they arrive.

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