WHEN YOU GO OUT TO THE WOODS TODAY... WATCH OUT! IT'S "OPEN SEASON" !

I just want to state one thing; in films, as in life how you say something is as important as what you say. In life, this is largely about attitude and good manners. In films, it is about the way you tell a story, about technique. You may not have the most original idea for a story in the world; however, if you use your head and a bit of imagination, you can come up with something fun or interesting, in short, something of value cinematically speaking. Now, in the film industry using one’s imagination can mean a number of things, but the medium that allows a filmmaker to make the best possible use of his / her imagination is without a doubt animation (by the way, it is important to note that animation is a medium not a genre. It is a tool like any other to tell any kind of story with. This is why considering all animations as children’s films is a rather unfortunate generalization…). Open Season’s story will no doubt feel familiar to all but true novices to cinephilia; however ,such good use has been made of animation, that I can tell you a hundred reasons to watch this one… Really…
Boog (who borrows the voice of Martin Lawrence) is a large grizzly bear. He lives in ranger Beth’s garage in the small woodland settlement in a national park. Beth rescued him when he was a tiny cub, of course she had every intention of releasing him back into the wild, but time went by, they started doing shows together and the visitors to the park love them, one thing led to another and there they are. Boog is now a huge, full grown bear with no idea how to cope in the wild. And he is perfectly happy with his lot until he meets a buck strapped to the front of a local hunter’s car. The buck, named Elliot (borrowing the voice of Ashton Kutcher)is, among other things, very averse to being mounted on someone’s wall. Boog doesn’t want to meddle at first, but then cuts him free. This seemingly simple act will start a snowball effect of events that will lead to Boog being “released into the wild” along with Elliot. Boog is not happy with this at all. The wild is cold, there is no blanket, no fish crackers, no chocolate and… It’s almost open season… Will Boog be able to adapt to the wild in time to save his bacon?
Ok so we all know the score. Road trip genre, with one sensible “normal” character (Boog) and one savy and slightly loopy character (Elliot) who talks a lot and gets them into trouble the whole time along the way with a smattering of side characters. And there are more and more comedies involving spoilt animals not knowing about real life being propelled into the wild – especially in animations – but this one is, I have to say, a good quality fella. Talking animals have been a premise of children’s entertainment since time immemorial, and this one is definitely a good one for the younger members of the family, but there is a lot in it for adults too. Some of the jokes are, in fact, aimed specifically at adults, Boog can’t, for example, go to the loo without an actual loo around, “doing it” in the bushes is nothing short of unthinkable (sounds familiar to me!) I found the side characters (reminds me slightly of “side dishes” as far as terminology goes, moving on however) especially good; my favorites being the skunks (two chicas who, judging from their accents were of latin origin) and the porcupine – and the reason for that can only be revealed when you actually watch it, it simply has to be seen to be believed. By the way, don’t let the fact that there is actual hunting in it worry you as far as the little ones are concerned, although they are a large part of the film, the hunters are nothing short of hilarious and not even the most sensitive of little ones will be distressed. A brilliant, upbeat little gem full of heart belly-laughs. No wonder it spouted sequels :)