In a world full of quirky animated franchises that spawned out of nothing, we didn’t really need more. These films didn’t only manage to be entertaining; they became a huge part of our childhood. Yet after a while, adults and children alike started to grow less and less fond of them due to samey methods of story-telling, samey content, and archetypical characters that didn’t really have much going on in their stories.
However, every once in a while, there came a new intellectual property that managed to be something different. I guess it’s safe to assume that Open Season really was not one of them, but it was super entertaining nonetheless.
How to Download Open Season (2006)
You can stream it or you can download the film from a digital store. Click on the Download button at the end of this review and make your choice. Check out also another famous Sony Animation pictures series – Hotel Transylvania.
The Movie Review
The story follows Boog, who is essentially a domesticated bear living a life of captivity yet luxury in the garage of a human park ranger named Beth. Boog spends most of his time chilling and enjoying his daily life, also being the star attraction of the town’s nature show. However, one day in his perfect life a wild and chatty buck named Elliot appears, who he saves from a hunter’s attack.
This leads Boog to venture out of his comfort zone which was Beth’s garage, and to explore the world around him so that he can learn more about the world and about himself.
If nothing else, Roger Allers and Jill Culton have managed to create a genuinely entertaining adventure film.
The main attraction for this film or its wacky cast of characters, inspired a lot by films such as Toy Story, or even Madagascar, these characters are full of life and are genuinely chaotic for the entirety of the film. in fact, the only chill person in the whole film is Boog the Bear, who just wants to be left alone so he can go back to hibernating.
Elliot is the life of the party, a character so hectic and chaotic that he genuinely never stopped speaking. It is hard to think of a character who has more lines than him, maybe the donkey from Shrek comes close.
Elliot makes the adventure of Open Season so much more fun to watch, thanks to the constant chatter and banter between the two protagonists, as well as the many characters that they meet as they dive deeper into the forest.
The Acting
The voice acting is a huge part of why this film is entertaining. The contrasting voices from Martin Lawrence’s super chill and laid-back interpretation of Boog, to Ashton Kutcher’s mind-numbingly annoying voice as Elliot is night and day. The same can be said for every single one of the characters’ voices, ranging from lowest to highest pitch – all can be found in this film.
The Animation
This film has decent animation, for 2006, this film looked good. However, comparing this to most other films in that era, it does slightly lose out. This is considering the fact that it had an $85 million budget, which is way less than most films we’re getting at that time and are still getting. Considering those facts, Open Season is a really good-looking film, and the animation can be often overlooked if the contents of the film are better.
The Soundtrack
There are two different forms of soundtracks in this film, one is the main music which is what plays throughout the entirety of the film in most of the parts. However, this is one of those animated films which features actual songs.
The main soundtrack by Ramin Djawadi is actually quite great, it’s entertaining and features a bunch of jingles that are genuinely memorable. It is one of his weakest works though, but seeing as this was a children’s film from 2006, we’re not going to hold that against them. Paul Westberg was credited for the songs, and while they’re decent, I can’t really think of any songs that truly stood out.
Verdict
Open Season Isn’t one of those films such as The Lion King, Toy Story, or WALL-E that will change your life forever after you watch them. However, it is a good and memorable story with a cast of characters that will keep you entertained throughout its entire runtime. It’s a children’s film and you can’t ask really for philosophical storytelling. it does what it set out to do, which is to entertain people as much as possible.
