Review of Brother Bear (2003) by Chris G — 10 Sep 2011

This was an okay movie for me, nothing really strong about it. The movie does follow somewhat of a plot where a lesson is being taught to someone. The lesson comes from a mystical force that is not necessarily known. I do not think that it is a good movie to let a child watch for her to learn a lesson. I feel like if I wanted to teach a lesson to my child I would try to do it directly instead of through something that I would have to explain more than the lesson itself. Even though this is a children's movie, I think that the maturity level of the child will determine how effective the movie is. I say this because there are several mind twisting events, such as, a brother hunting his brother who has been changed into a bear. This boy had been changed into a bear after he tried to prove his manhood by going and killing a bear that had stolen some fish from their camp. I mean come on, I know that this is television, Disney at that, but let's keep it somewhat believable. I am not a fan of fiction movies, books, or stories. If it does have fiction, which in most cases a movie does, it needs to be something that can really happen. You will enjoy that it is not really a musical, however, Phil Collins keeps your musical taste satisfied throughout.

Another interesting point about this movie and perhaps the most important was the fact that some religious views or points are very strong throughout the movie. These viewpoints start at the beginning when the boy kills the bear for steeling fish and a great spirit turns him into a bear. I guess this is to teach him what it is like to be a bear and trying to survive. This young boy must satisfy the spirit of his fallen brother to be changed back into a boy again. Also, you are lead to believe that everyone is brothers, animals, humans, trees, etc. The whole film has the "circle of life" aspect and it leaves a lot undone when it comes to explaining the whole deal. This just leaves children asking questions after watching the movie instead of enjoying the whole experience. Overall, I do not dig the fact that Disney is trying to push or educate through their great works a religious point to my children. Religion is hard enough to explain to children in the first place, and it is super hard to compete with a movie. This is especially true if they enjoy the movie. I could only imagine how many groups would have an uprising if a movie just like this was based off of a form of Christianity instead. It seems that there is a double standard where we can produce something about other religions, but we cannot about our own.