Open Season

Wow, I really am not going to the movies anymore, am I? Yet another movie watched on family night, although this DVD I had picked up simply for the cheap price tag and wasn’t expecting much.

And I was right, since the story plays like a bad copy of Shrek.

[SPOILER PARAGRAPH] In both films, the main character is big, towering, scary looking but good hearted (Shrek vs. Boog) and they both have a sidekick who’s a little slow but good natured, and who ends up totally messing up their lives (Donkey vs. Elliot). So in Open Season, instead of a donkey that forces an ogre to go on a quest to free a princess and a bunch of fairy tale characters from an oppressive ruler, we have a buck who forces a bear to go on a quest to free the animals of the forest from the oppressive hunters hitching for the open season’s first day of hunting.

So, not much development went into creating an original story (nothing new there), and the dialogue isn’t terribly engaging either (like we’ve not all been there before), but the direction is ok and the actors did a fairly good job.

All things considered, the movie isn’t bad and it is occasionally funny, it’s just that it leaves you with the feeling that you’ve seen it all before (which you won’t experience if you are among the 3 people who haven’t seen Shrek). However, it’s ok for a quiet night with the kids, just don’t expect anything too original.

Grade: 6