Boog, a domesticated 900lb. Grizzly bear, finds himself stranded in the woods 3 days before Open Season. Forced to rely on Elliot, a fast-talking mule deer, the two form an unlikely friendship and must quickly rally other forest animals if they are to form a rag-tag army against the hunters.
After falling head over hooves in love with Giselle, Elliot's road to the altar takes a slight detour when Mr. Weenie is kidnapped by a group of pampered pets determined to return him to his owners.
A scheming raccoon fools a mismatched family of forest creatures into helping him repay a debt of food, by invading the new suburban sprawl that popped up while they were hibernating...and learns a lesson about family himself.
Directors:
Tim Johnson,
Karey Kirkpatrick
Stars:
Bruce Willis,
Garry Shandling,
Steve Carell
The story of an uptown rat that gets flushed down the toilet from his penthouse apartment, ending in the sewers of London, where he has to learn a whole new and different way of life.
In a robot world, a young idealistic inventor travels to the big city to join his inspiration's company, only to find himself opposing its sinister new management.
Barry B. Benson, a bee just graduated from college, is disillusioned at his lone career choice: making honey. On a special trip outside the hive, Barry's life is saved by Vanessa, a florist in New York City. As their relationship blossoms, he discovers humans actually eat honey, and subsequently decides to sue them.
Directors:
Simon J. Smith,
Steve Hickner
Stars:
Jerry Seinfeld,
Renée Zellweger,
Matthew Broderick
When a son of a gangster shark boss is accidentally killed while on the hunt, his would-be prey and his vegetarian brother decide to use the incident to their own advantage.
A woman transformed into a giant after she is struck by a meteorite on her wedding day becomes part of a team of monsters sent in by the U.S. government to defeat an alien mastermind trying to take over Earth.
Directors:
Rob Letterman,
Conrad Vernon
Stars:
Reese Witherspoon,
Rainn Wilson,
Stephen Colbert
A local scientist is often regarded as a failure until he invents a machine that can make food fall from the sky. But little does he know, that things are about to take a turn for the worst.
When Blu, a domesticated macaw from small-town Minnesota, meets the fiercely independent Jewel, he takes off on an adventure to Rio de Janeiro with the bird of his dreams.
Director:
Carlos Saldanha
Stars:
Jesse Eisenberg,
Anne Hathaway,
George Lopez
A happily domesticated grizzly bear named Boog, has his perfect world turned upside down after he meets Elliot, a scrawny, fast-talking one-horned wild mule deer. They both end up stranded together in the woods during hunting season and it's up to the duo to rally all the other forest animals and turn the tables on the hunters.Written by
Anthony Pereyra {hypersonic91@yahoo.com}
OK, this year alone probably saw a record number of talking animal animations, with countless of punchlines filled with pop culture references, and big name stars attached to the projects, that it's about time we give the genre a good break, rather than churning them out continuously with more misses than hits.
And Open Season, probably the last one on offer this year from a Hollywood studio, suffers from this glut, unfortunately. Heck, with so much similarities between the movies, you can even spot a familiarity or two from the story lines, taking a a leaf from one of the earlier flop - The Wild, in having one of its stars here, part of a popular animal attraction, and another part from Over The Hedge, where a group of animals must band together for survival and a fight against adversity.
The leads for Open Season are a domesticated grizzly bear who has its own teddy bear soft toy (don't ask), and a mule-deer with one half of its horn sawn off. An unlikely pairing, a "loser and a loserer", voiced by Martin Lawrence and Ashton Kutcher respectively. It's strange that there's a reversal of voice roles here, as Lawrence's Boog the Bear is uptight, while Kutcher's Elliot the deer is built in the same old wise cracking mould as Eddie Murphy's Mushu in Mulan, or Donkey in Shrek. In other words, Boog frequently gets punk'd by Elliot.
It's one of those recycled plots about loneliness, and having two misfits finding themselves in each other, relying on strengths from the other party in order to survive in new environments. A misadventure sees Boog go back to the wild, with Elliot in tow, and the two have to find a way to get back to civilization where Boog belongs. Along the way they encounter other critters in the woods of course, paving the way for some comedy and more recycled themes of bullies and the likes. Don't believe the trailers though, as the war between animals and humans, doesn't take up much screen time.
The sad part though, is that there aren't many funny moments to distract you from the rehashed story lines and subplots, but then again, it's a made for children movie. As always, there are some of the weaker characters which get used as punching bags, and here, this role belonged to the mindless rabbits, which some might find irritatingly adorable. My vote however goes to the nasty Irish-accented squirrels, defenders of their pine trees with their nuts, and in second place, those insane beavers.
At least the animals don't break out singing songs every now and then, though there are some nice musical numbers that went along with the movie. But all in all, this movie isn't as entertaining as, say, Over The Hedge, and neither is it as bad as The Wild. But don't say I didn't warn you if you find this a tad too boring.
Wait for the DVD, and rent it. Oei!
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OK, this year alone probably saw a record number of talking animal animations, with countless of punchlines filled with pop culture references, and big name stars attached to the projects, that it's about time we give the genre a good break, rather than churning them out continuously with more misses than hits.
And Open Season, probably the last one on offer this year from a Hollywood studio, suffers from this glut, unfortunately. Heck, with so much similarities between the movies, you can even spot a familiarity or two from the story lines, taking a a leaf from one of the earlier flop - The Wild, in having one of its stars here, part of a popular animal attraction, and another part from Over The Hedge, where a group of animals must band together for survival and a fight against adversity.
The leads for Open Season are a domesticated grizzly bear who has its own teddy bear soft toy (don't ask), and a mule-deer with one half of its horn sawn off. An unlikely pairing, a "loser and a loserer", voiced by Martin Lawrence and Ashton Kutcher respectively. It's strange that there's a reversal of voice roles here, as Lawrence's Boog the Bear is uptight, while Kutcher's Elliot the deer is built in the same old wise cracking mould as Eddie Murphy's Mushu in Mulan, or Donkey in Shrek. In other words, Boog frequently gets punk'd by Elliot.
It's one of those recycled plots about loneliness, and having two misfits finding themselves in each other, relying on strengths from the other party in order to survive in new environments. A misadventure sees Boog go back to the wild, with Elliot in tow, and the two have to find a way to get back to civilization where Boog belongs. Along the way they encounter other critters in the woods of course, paving the way for some comedy and more recycled themes of bullies and the likes. Don't believe the trailers though, as the war between animals and humans, doesn't take up much screen time.
The sad part though, is that there aren't many funny moments to distract you from the rehashed story lines and subplots, but then again, it's a made for children movie. As always, there are some of the weaker characters which get used as punching bags, and here, this role belonged to the mindless rabbits, which some might find irritatingly adorable. My vote however goes to the nasty Irish-accented squirrels, defenders of their pine trees with their nuts, and in second place, those insane beavers.
At least the animals don't break out singing songs every now and then, though there are some nice musical numbers that went along with the movie. But all in all, this movie isn't as entertaining as, say, Over The Hedge, and neither is it as bad as The Wild. But don't say I didn't warn you if you find this a tad too boring.
Wait for the DVD, and rent it. Oei!