Brother Bear Review
by Robin Clifford (robin AT reelingreviews DOT com)October 24th, 2003
"Brother Bear"
Kenai (voice of Joachim Phoenix) is an eager teen who is about to undergo the rite of passage in his tribe and become a man. The wise shaman (Joan Copeland) of the tribe selects, for Kenai's totem, the symbol of the bear, for love. He grudgingly accepts what he considers a "sissy" totem but not before a real bear enters the camp and, because of Kenai's negligence, steals the basket containing the tribe's hard earned catch of fish. Chastised by his older brother, Denahi (Jason Raize) and Sitka (D.D. Sweeney) for his carelessness the newly anointed young man sets off to track down the thieving bruin in "Brother Bear."
This is definitely a second tier animation effort by Disney Studios and one that I am not sure is clearly defined as to its target audience. "Brother Bear" starts off on a serious note as Kenai heads into the wilderness to find and, since he is heavily armed, kill the marauding bear. His brothers, being protective of their sibling, follow him and, in a frightening sequence, elder brother Denahi dies saving Kenai from the bear. Vengeful, Kenai hunts down the culprit for his brother's death and, in turn, kills the bear. Through the magic of fairy tales and the Mouse House, Kenai is changed into a bear and now, so to speak, must walk a mile in another man's shoes. Or, in another bear's fur. Up until this point "Brother Bear" is a mostly serious story with some issues that may not be suitable for younger kids. And, herein lies the problem.
Once Kenai is changed into The Bear the movie changes 180 degrees and becomes a lighthearted fish-out-of-water tale as the new bruin must get to the mountain where the sky touches the earth to become a man again. He meets a baby bear, Koda Jeremy Suarez), who becomes his sidekick as they journey across the land until they reach the "gathering" where all manner of bears meet to feed on salmon. (In truth, it looks like a Sandals resort for the bear in-crowd.) They are accompanied on their journey by a pair of moose, Tuke and Rutt (Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis), that have a striking resemblance of personality to the actors' Bob and Doug McKenzie characters, right down to the fondness for a concoction containing warm, malted barley.
This split in story styles and apparent age demographics is going to make "Brother Bear" a hard sell. The mirthful side, with the talking animals and anthropomorphizing of the forest critters - and this is what is presented in the trailers - is a definite draw for the kiddies. But, the serious story, which starts things off in an extended sequence long before the talking bears enter the picture, is the meat of the tale and is a bit too mature for the younger crowd.
Animation is competent without breaking any new ground. Computer-generated animation is used, especially for water born bits, but the makers stick to 2-D cel animation for the most part.
I give it a C+.
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