Movie Thoughts: Brother Bear 2 (2006)

• Released: 29 August 2006
• Directed by: Ben Gluck
• Running time: 1 h 14 min
• Rating 2/5

Synopsis

Kenai, Koda and Kenai's childhood friend Nita travel to Hokani Falls in order to help Nita find a way to be able to marry her current suitor.

My Thoughts

Not sure why I felt like checking this one out. I may someday review all Disney sequels as well. But for now, let's just stick to first finishing my Disney Journey. With some exceptions, such as this.

As far as Disney sequels go, this one is not the very worst. It's not good but it could be far worse. 

The plot is pretty predictable, with this being the Disney sequel trope where the main character gets a love interest. That in and of itself doesn't have to be bad, but the execution can be horrible in these sequels (e.g. The Hunchback of Notre Dame 2).

Nita is fine as a character and I do like her bond with Kenai, but for her to be willing to give up her life as a human after interacting with him as a bear for like three says feels...horribly rushed to say the least. Like, it's not like they didn't know each other before; they are childhood friends after all. But they haven't seen each other in years now. Reconnecting with people you lost contact with ages ago (and in some cases now are literally an animal) can be a fun and good thing. But it just feels like Nita is willing to give up her humanity for Kenai way to soon. 

I can buy her realizing that she's in love with him in three days. But to just turn into a bear on a whim...not a good thing. Also, it kind of makes the weight of Kenai's transformation in the first movie feel less heavy. In the first film it was this big event orchestrated by Sikta and the spirits to teach Kenai a lesson. Yet here it's simply "Oh, he's got a human GF now, let's turn her into a bear as well". Way less impactful, huh?

The characters are still...fine, I guess? This movie's version of Koda is more annoying than the last. I like Kenai still, but his development is by far not as interesting as in the original. Nita is a fine character, like I said before, but I don't exactly care about her. There's more characters than them, but 90% of the movie centers on these three. 

Honestly, I was surprised how quickly Nita's suitor was shoved aside. He first appeared as a positive character, being Nita's love interest she's set to marry. Then after her spending a few days with Kenai she decides suddenly that she wants to not marry him, which rightfully pisses him off (seriously, having not one but two wedding ceremonies interrupted must SUCK). He does try to kill Kenai in one quick scene, but after that he's just...gone. No revelation, no further character development. He serves his role as antagonist and off he goes. We don't need him anymore, I guess.

As for the visuals they're...adequate. Not as good as those of the original, obviously, but as far as Disney sequels go this is definitely one of the better-looking ones. Honestly the best part is probably the backgrounds. The character designs and animation are still fine, too, but the characters are definitely slightly off-model from their first movie looks a couple of times. The use of color and effects is also obviously not great, as is the movement of the characters, though.

Overall an okay Disney sequel, albeit a pointless one.