Watson opens with a mind-blowing image, a pod of whales sleeping vertically in the ocean. These still behemoths remind one of the rocks of Stonehenge or the monoliths of 2001: A Space Odyssey. The image is simply awe-inspiring and majestic. The documentary posits that environmentalist Paul Watson is their protector. Watson certainly thinks so. At one point, he states that his clients are the creatures that live in the ocean and all he cares about is what benefits them.

Watson was one of the co-founders of Greenpeace and was unceremoniously kicked out because his antics were moving more toward physical, by any means necessary confrontations over whaling and seal slaughtering, while Greenpeace preferred a more peaceful variety of protest. In 1977, Watson formed the Sea Shepherds. They travel the oceans looking for illegal whalers and attempt to interfere with their trade. Sometimes they throw noxious acid onto the deck, sometimes they come between harpoon and whale, and sometimes they simply ram the whaling boat with their own.

Watson is a fascinating man. Gregarious, self-possessed, and a hugely entertaining storyteller, he takes you through his childhood all the way up to the present. Along the way, he becomes the official protector of Cocos Island, a marine preserve just off of Costa Rica; he annoys Japan so much that it has a “red notice” out for him through Interpol, and his group is responsible for the destruction of two docked whaling ships in Iceland.

Amazingly, there is footage of all of this because Watson was a communications major in college and worshipped Marshall McLuhan, so he understood the media, and the stunts he staged were deliberate “sexy and violent” because he knew that would get him publicity. He would be, as he states, “hot news.” We see him taking clubs from seal hunters in the 1970s and ramming a fishing boat harvesting shark fins in the ’80s. In fact, Watson has pretty much documented his entire professional life, which comes in handy when he goes to court, which he does. Often.

Director Lesley Chilcott has a sure hand as she guides us through Watson’s life and philosophy. Combining gorgeous footage of sea animals with an interview with Watson and then intercutting archive footage of his exploits, she presents a pretty full picture of the world as Watson sees it. Watson being so engaging and charismatic certainly helps, but this is a very well-directed work.

The only issue is that there’s very little counterpoint to Watson’s idea of direct action as opposed to Greenpeace’s more nonviolent approach. There is an interview with the captain of the shark finning boat that Watson rams, but we cut to Watson’s dismissal of any concerns afterwards. There is also no sense of irony, though it is quite ironic, that when one of Watson’s ships gets rammed and destroyed, he immediately calls the press to complain about how expensive the ship was.

The film posits that Watson’s actions are the only clear and sane ones to take and seems to downplay and dismiss any other option. Footage of some absolutely gorgeous sea creatures certainly hammers his point home, but the film is certainly a one-sided presentation, albeit a highly entertaining and informative one.