kevinmalonefan-39258 Review of Brother Bear

Brother Bear (2003)

Beautiful animation, but with a boring characters and sub-par songs.

[5/10 · 3 August 2020]

Let me get one thing out of the way: this film has beautiful animation. I can't help but want to visit Alaska after seeing the beautiful mountain vistas shown in this film. Rotten Tomatoes claims the animation is "so-so" and this couldn't be further from the truth. This film is worth watching just for the animation and Kenai's transformation. But . . . the rest of it kinda sucks. Phil Collins, who wrote some great songs for Disney's Tarzan, ruined any emotional poignancy the film could of had by drowning out the dialogue of the reveal scene with his awful song. The songs detracted from my over all enjoyment of the film. The characters were boring. I wasn't invested in the plot because I wasn't invested in the characters. Koda was alright, but I couldn't have cared less about Kenai's journey or Denahi's revenge. The rams (which were on the box even though they were on screen for less than a minute) were not funny whatsoever. The only good characters were the moose. Yeah, it was stupid that their minor spat over "crashing the Mammoth" was what convinced Koda to forgive Kenai, but I thought they were funny. I think the film was trying to be North American Lion King, and it really shows in some scenes (that scene with Kenai and Koda in the volcanic area is practically identical to the Elephant Graveyard), but it doesn't have the emotional significance due to the blandness of the characters. The plot twist that Kenai killed Koda's mother was obvious the instant Koda said he had lost his mom that it boggles the mind that Kenai didn't realize sooner. Rotten Tomatoes ranked it as the worst movie in the Disney Animated Canon. Yes, even worse than Chicken Little. And that's just not true. While Chicken Little's animation physically hurts to look at, this film's animation was stunning. And this one didn't have the awful, stingy pop culture jokes that Chicken Little had. This film is not awful, but just for kids. While most Disney films can be enjoyed by adults and kids alike, this film is just for kids. It's not Chicken Little, but don't expect The Lion King.