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The first Open season was a moderate success. It was just the latest in a long string of talking animals CG-movies gracing the screen after Pixar showed the whole world there was a market for them. A rather large market as has become clear. What was done by hand 20 years ago is now made with the aid of computers. Apparently Open Season made just enough money to warrant a DTV-sequel for some easy money. Since Martin Lawrence and Ashton Kutcher were either too busy or too expensive to reprise their voice talents for Boog and Elliot so we get two substitutes in a movie with a running time of 70 minutes. It’s open season on “Open Season 2”.
Open Season shows that it’s made on a lower budget. The short length of the movie and less detail in the hraphicsdepartment make that obvious. That doesn’t need to be a negative thing, just look at Hoodwinked. Graphically very underachieving but nonetheless very funny. Open Season 2 is not that funny, but it’s not the disaster either. I remember the first movie vaguely. It did not leave an impression on me and as I recall it wasn’t that great of a movie either. Because of this I don’t miss Kutcher an Lawrence, but the two new guys will be soon forgotten also. Somehow the two main characters of Boog and Elliot aren’t really interesting. I cared and laughed more about the secondary characters like the two ducks, Mr. Weenie and McSquizzy. The movie also includes a variety of dogs, of which Fifi, voiced by Crispin Glover, was as scary as he was funny.
It’s quite a feat to see how many serious themes actually are in a movie this short. Look out for racism and fear of commitment amongst other. Serious stuff for what is intended to be a simple kiddie flick. In the end I actually liked this movie more than I expected I would. It’s length was one of the reasons I put it on, I wanted a snack, not a whole meal and a snack is what I got.
