Review of Open Season 2 (2008) by Andy S — 10 Jul 2010

Having watched and enjoyed the first film, Open Season (2006), I was intrigued to see how the, straight to DVD, sequel would turn out. The woodland animals, having defeated hunters and befriended the domestic sausage dog, Mr Weenie, in the first film are up to their old tricks again. This time it's a rescue mission.

On the day of his wedding to Giselle, Elliot, a deer, starts to have second thoughts when he sees Mr Weenie being kidnapped by the family that lost him in the first place. Deferring wedding plans, he persuades a group of the animals to go and rescue the stricken pet. The small group includes Boog, the bear, Giselle, Elliot's intended (also a deer) and McSquizzy, a squirrel with attitude. Meanwhile, Mr Weenie is being taken to a fun park designed for humans and their pets. We meet many new characters, including Fifi, a pampered pooch with a great hatred of all things wild. Fifi tries to re-domesticate Mr Weenie, but fails and we are all set up for a great rescue attempt at the fun park! There is quite a lot more to the plot, but I don't want to give away too many spoilers.

Well animated, although I felt that Fifi looked a bit too much like a sheep. It will never win any prizes, but I thought it was quite a well made film with a decent pace and plenty of jokes. Decent performances from the voice talents of, Joel McHale as Elliot, Mike Epps as Boog, Jane Krakowski as Giselle, Billy Connolly as McSquizzy and Crispin Glover as Fifi.

Although I found the character of Elliot pretty annoying there is plenty of other things going on to distract from this rather irksome character. If anything I thought the plot might be a little too complicated for younger viewers but still pretty good. Having said that, there are some real 'laugh out loud' moments. My favourite character is Roger, the cat. You'll know what I mean if you've seen it. Over all, recommended, if only for those 'laugh out loud' moments... of which there are several.

My score: 6.2/10.