The Film
In case you were clamoring for another installment of Open Season, we have this straight-to-video cartoon sequel. Gone are first flick's lead voices, Martin Lawrence and Ashton Kutcher. However, there is still plenty of bad animation and potty humor, which, if you liked the first, will certainly attract you to the follow-up.
In between the on-screen melee of fast-talking forest critters, there's a sentimental story about two crazy deer in love, voiced by The Soup's Joel McHale and 30 Rock's Jane Krakowski. However, before the two can get to the altar (yes! Deer can marry legally in 33 states!), they are sidetracked when their canine cohort Mr. Weenie gets kidnapped by a gang of pampered pooches, who want to return the little guy to his rightful owner.
The Picture
Presented with a 1.78:1 image, the colors pop very well, and there are plenty of them. At some points, the colors are almost blinding, because hey -- there's apparently a lot of neon at Pet Paradisio, a fancy-schmancy resort where people bring their four-legged friends to get a rubdown and fresh toilets to drink from. Also, in a world of Wall-E and The Incredibles, the CG animation just sort of fell flat, even more so than the original.
The Sound
Considering that we have the entire great outdoors to play with, there seems to be a lot of missed opportunity. Don't expect any crisp, countrified noises. The animals soak up all of the audio chatting, which leaves very little else to be overheard. Also, that non-stop dialogue isn't that great, and the movie seems to rely too much on the fact that they have semi-celebrities delivering a direct-to-home feature.
The Extras
Although this film never made it to theaters, there's a decent amount of features on the disc. Unfortunately, a lot of it will go wasted. Most (except me) probably won't sit through the very lengthy featurette, "Going Wild! With the Voice Cast of Open Season 2." However, if you want to keep the kiddies busy for a few extra minutes: There's a feature on how to draw some of the film's furry characters, as well as a Frogger-styled game called “Save Mr. Weenie.” Standard, non-HD storyboard-styled deleted scenes and an updated, unnecessary video for the Baha Men's "Who Let the Dogs Out?" round out the extras.
Final Thoughts
Sure, Open Season 2 might entertain your children for an hour or two, but does that make it right? Unless you need to follow your second (seventh?) favorite furry creatures to their next adventures (and next set of celebrity voices), you could probably skip spending the bucks for this one on Blu-ray. Rent it first... if you must.
Where to Buy:
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