Animation for children is a particularly unique task. You have to consider a bit too many things while making an animated feature film for kids. You have to have enough slapstick to keep them laughing, have enough heart to keep them engaged, and have interesting characters to keep the story fun. However, you also have to dish out a different, cleaner comedy that is funny enough to keep them excited throughout the run time. This is something that the first Open Season film excelled at, however, the same cannot be said for the sequel.
How to Download Open Season 2
You can download the film from a digital store. You can also stream it. Click on the Download button at the end of this review and make your choice.
The Movie Review
Just in time for Elliot and Giselle’s spring wedding, our furry pals emerge from hibernation. But Elliot – played by John McHale this time instead of Ashton Kutcher – changes his mind in the middle of the ceremony. He believes that Mr. Weenie is being kidnapped by a wicked woman who was actually his previous owner. Giselle suggests postponing the nuptials while you look for Mr. Weenie. Elliot and the other members of the forest crew concur. So they embarked on a perilous and thrilling search for their companion.
This series’ opening film was quite fun. A sweet woman spoils a humorous bear, and then a funny deer becomes friends with the bear. The bear is then chased out of town, but it is now open season and hunters are upon them. That was a film with a particular story and precise narrative, and it got pretty comical. Here, I don’t even understand why they dubbed it Open Season 2 when the sequel doesn’t even take place during open season. It has nothing to do with open season except for sharing characters from the first film.
This follow-up doesn’t compare well to the original film, even though it is HIGHLY entertaining on its own. The animation was at most average, the plot was very hurried, and the majority of the characters didn’t behave as they usually would. Boog and Elliot’s lines in particular started to seem rather generic with time, but Mr. Weenie was the only one who performed well throughout the entire movie. Fifi, who is portrayed by Crispin Glover, is one of my favorite characters here, despite his tiny size, he exudes a strong sense of ‘I’m in charge.’
When I realized the voice actors were changed, I observed this one negative thing: the animation was of below subpar quality. The original movie, which was filmed two years earlier, was considerably better looking in terms of animation. It had a much more polished look, and it felt way smoother to watch with overall better fluidity of the animations. I also noticed that some of the characters, like Giselle, were downright ugly. They looked very shoddy and poorly rendered, which was something that put me off.
Given that two of the primary characters have been performed by different actors here, the voice acting is excellent. Boog and Elliot are now voiced by different actors, John McHale for Elliot and Mike Epps for Boog. Hats off to Mike Epps because I truly believed that Martin Lawrence was providing the voice for Boog. Meanwhile, Elliot just feels better to listen to overall, perhaps it’s the fact that they’ve got actual voice actors this time instead of live-action actors in the roles that makes it better. Crispin Glover was the show stealer as Fifi though, I cannot say that enough.
The Music
The music was much worse than the original, but to be fair, the music had never been the defining feature of the Open Season films in the first place. This film featured the same amount of lame musical tracks as the original, while also attaining much of the random sound effects that made the original film feel so funny to watch. The humor is way more elevated here and just feels funnier due to the increase in roles for characters such as Mr. Weenie and the addition of characters such as Fifi.
The Verdict
Elliot’s character annoyed me quite a bit, but there were lots of other things going on to divert my attention from him. The plot, while still being rather nice, seemed to me to be a little bit too difficult for younger viewers. Despite this, there are a few genuine “laugh out loud” moments. Overall, I can recommend this film, if only for the several “laugh out loud” moments.
