Hurricane on the Bayou - the latest IMAX feature to hit the Denver Museum of Nature & Science's big screen - is a strange hybrid, blending the structure of an environmental documentary with the sensibility of a human-interest drama.

Originally intended to raise awareness about the deterioration of Louisiana's wetlands (which serve as natural "speed bumps" to hurricanes), the film switched gears after Hurricane Katrina hit in August 2005. Though shooting was complete when the devastating storm struck New Orleans, director Greg MacGillivray sent his crew back in to gather new footage. Determined to capture aerial shots of the ravaged city, the production tapped the Miami Vice movie set in Florida for a helicopter on which it could mount its IMAX theater camera.

That effort produced some incredible images: a football stadium nearly submerged in water; a giant tanker shipwrecked on a highway; thousands of homes floating like little boats on top of a vast sea.

MacGillivray would have been wise to start with these compelling shots, which serve as ultimate proof of the damage that results when wetlands go unprotected. Instead, Hurricane begins as a straightforward nature flick, chock-full of close-ups of bayou country set to a Cajun beat.

Local musicians Tab Benoit, Allen Toussaint and Chubby Carrier serve as tour guides, while teenage fiddle prodigy Amanda Shaw plays the role of eager student searching for answers about the disappearing habitat. Meryl Streep also provides occasional narration.

With the early scenes focused on the swamp and its inhabitants (shots of an alligator frolicking in the Mississippi fill the entire screen), Hurricane initially feels like standard Discovery Channel-type fare. But once Katrina hits land, the movie takes on a completely different tone.

Bordering on melodrama, Hurricane turns the spotlight on Shaw (Benoit was out of town when the storm hit) and her family's efforts to evacuate. We watch her family load everything into the family car and then wait anxiously for news at a hotel - re-creations that seem more appropriate for a TV movie of the week.

And while many of the post-Katrina shots recorded in New Orleans are powerful, MacGillivray doesn't dedicate enough time to revisiting the bayou to determine the hurricane's impact there.

Despite its split personality, Hurricane offers more good than bad, including a lively soundtrack featuring Benoit, the Neville Brothers and Fats Domino.

gonzaleze@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5350