- Released: 30 September 2004
- Directed by: Phil Weinstein
- Running time: 1 h 19 min
- Rating 2.5/5
Synopsis
Balto must once more compete in a race, this time against an airplane, in order to save his son's job as a mail dog.
My Thoughts
What can I say that hasn’t been said already? Out of all the three Balto films, this one feels like the least effort went into the story. Wolf Quest may thematically feel very different from the first Balto film, but at least it had a pretty strong story about discovering oneself and helping out a pack of wolves in times of need. This? It’s a low-stakes race that is pretty much pointless since we all know plane delivery takes over in some years from this taking place anyways, and the only characters that end up in real danger are Boris, who, despite being a favorite of mine in the first movie, is really obnoxious in this one, and Duke, a one-note bland pilot character who doesn’t do anything except participating in the race and almost dying.
The characters aren’t much better. I’ll give it this: it is so far the movie that made the titular character the most interesting. Balto actively doubts himself in this film about whether or not he’ll be able to face Kodi if things go wrong.
However, a lot of other characters are just bland or unlikable in Wings of Change. Staring off with the returning characters, we’ve got Boris, who has been reduced to a lying manipulative asshole simply because he’s too ashamed of his fear of heights. He’s no longer fun or charming like in the first and ever so slightly in the second, he’s just really annoying here. Muk and Luk are still not great or funny, and haven’t grown an inch here, either, but at least they served some kind of purpose in this movie by being the ones to tell about the plane crash. Jenna once more is pretty much on the sidelines, so that’s nothing new.
As for the new characters, we’ve got quite a few. Kodi (I know he appeared in the last one, but this is his first formal appearance) is a selfish dog who values his job of being a sled dog over the life of a human. And this is the offspring of Balto, the (wolf)dog who is famous for saving so many children’s lives. Let’s just say being a hero doesn’t run in the family. It isn’t until Kodi is really pushed by Jenna that he does what he should’ve done all along. So yeah, unlikeable character.
We’ve got another trio of tag-along characters that somewhat fulfill a comic relief role. This time it comes in the forms of Kirby, Ralph and Dusty, three of Kodi’s team mates. They’re just not funny and once more quite unlikable because they also refused to help out when Duke and Boris were in peril. Duke, like said before, is just a generic do-gooder guy.
We also have two other new comic reliefs: Dipsy, a basset hound that tends to overeat, and Mel, a worrywart of a terrier. Their jokes get old really fast and they’re just not funny. Then there’s *sigh* Stella, a female purple goose with bird tiddies who wants to date Boris. I hate pretty much everything about her. From her mannerisms to her design to her song. She’s even indirectly the reason Boris nearly died anyways. Just… fuck this character. If she didn’t exist the movie still would be bad, but it’d at least be a massive improvement.
The visuals are… well, mixed. When comparing it to the second movie, it’s a huge step forwards. There’s less inconsistencies and mistakes, though still quite a few ones. The animation overall is better and I also like the color palette of this movie way more. The mixing of CGI and 2D animation, which was really fucking obvious in the second movie, has also gotten better. Still, it’s just standard for direct-to-DVD movies, so it’s nothing that really stands out. The backgrounds are probably one of the better things of this movie, as they’re quite good. I can’t say that for a lot of the rest, though.
The sound design in this one was pretty lacking. I really had some scenes where I felt sound effects were missing. That doesn’t create a very immersive movie.
The pacing was mostly okay, but some scenes do really drag (the ones where Dipsy keeps postponing the sled dogs about the decision for a race, the godawful Stella song, the pointless wild water adventure).
The music varies. There’s some songs in here that are pretty good if you ask me. "Everything Flies" and "You Don’t Have To Be A Hero" were quite decent, however, Stella’s song, "Come On Up And Fly" is one of the worst songs I’ve ever heard. It’s completely tonally different from anything else in this and even the other Balto films, has characters and decor pieces that don’t even seem to exist in reality, is way too suggestive and just drawn out and uncomfortable. Also it goes on for nearly three minutes.
Ugh. I really wish I could like this movie, but I cannot. It feels more direct-to-DVD than even the second one, despite that one being awful in the visuals. It has no effort in the story, unlikable (and uncomfortably over-sexualized) characters, a wonky pacing and slightly better visuals to make up for it. But really, even for those, it isn’t worth it. This is just a lazy sequel that I can only appreciate for the effort that went into animating all of those hundreds of running cycles, but nothing else.
I don’t recommend you check this out. Just stick to the first and optionally the second. But forget about this one. Like I’ll be trying now.
The visuals are… well, mixed. When comparing it to the second movie, it’s a huge step forwards. There’s less inconsistencies and mistakes, though still quite a few ones. The animation overall is better and I also like the color palette of this movie way more. The mixing of CGI and 2D animation, which was really fucking obvious in the second movie, has also gotten better. Still, it’s just standard for direct-to-DVD movies, so it’s nothing that really stands out. The backgrounds are probably one of the better things of this movie, as they’re quite good. I can’t say that for a lot of the rest, though.
The sound design in this one was pretty lacking. I really had some scenes where I felt sound effects were missing. That doesn’t create a very immersive movie.
The pacing was mostly okay, but some scenes do really drag (the ones where Dipsy keeps postponing the sled dogs about the decision for a race, the godawful Stella song, the pointless wild water adventure).
The music varies. There’s some songs in here that are pretty good if you ask me. "Everything Flies" and "You Don’t Have To Be A Hero" were quite decent, however, Stella’s song, "Come On Up And Fly" is one of the worst songs I’ve ever heard. It’s completely tonally different from anything else in this and even the other Balto films, has characters and decor pieces that don’t even seem to exist in reality, is way too suggestive and just drawn out and uncomfortable. Also it goes on for nearly three minutes.
Ugh. I really wish I could like this movie, but I cannot. It feels more direct-to-DVD than even the second one, despite that one being awful in the visuals. It has no effort in the story, unlikable (and uncomfortably over-sexualized) characters, a wonky pacing and slightly better visuals to make up for it. But really, even for those, it isn’t worth it. This is just a lazy sequel that I can only appreciate for the effort that went into animating all of those hundreds of running cycles, but nothing else.
I don’t recommend you check this out. Just stick to the first and optionally the second. But forget about this one. Like I’ll be trying now.
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