Movie Title: Open Season
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (6/10)
Year: 2006
Open Season official site: http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/openseason/
Hunt, hunt, hunt!! Piang, piang!! 🔫 Run for your fur… because hunting season is officially open! More fur for the fashion industry, more leather shoes, more goose-feather pillows and everything must keep moving in the circle of life, right? Okay, maybe that sounds a little dramatic. But this is Open Season. Subtle is definitely not part of the plan.
So yes… meet Boog (Martin Lawrence), a huge grizzly bear adopted by forest ranger Beth (Debra Messing). And seriously, this bear is living a better life than most of us. Food and snacks whenever he wants, a soft comfortable bed, his own private toilet, a cute stuffed toy called Dinkleman, and even Wheel of Fortune before bedtime. Not to mention the whole garage belongs to him. How lucky can one bear be?
Boog is also the main attraction in their little town. Everything is going perfectly fine until Elliot (Ashton Kutcher) comes into the picture. Elliot is this super-talkative deer with only one antler—so yes, a “unihorn.” He was hit by hunter Shaw (Gary Sinise) and tied to the front of his truck. Beth and Shaw are already on completely opposite sides and definitely not on good talking terms. So when Boog secretly helps Elliot escape, you just know trouble is coming.
Then Elliot tries to lure Boog out of his super-comfortable life for one night of fun. Just one night only… what could possibly go wrong? Well, everything. Their little adventure creates one huge mess, and Beth has no choice but to send both of them back into the wild. And guess what? She releases them only three days before open season. Talk about seriously bad timing.
For the very first time, Boog is away from home and has to depend on himself. One small problem… he has absolutely no idea what he is doing. So, in order to get home, he agrees to make Elliot his partner and guide. Sounds okay, except Elliot is just as clueless. There are lots of funny parts here – Boog trying to use the toilet, Boog trying to catch fish, Boog basically failing at being a wild bear. He may be huge, but he is so pampered that the other forest animals look at him and think… easy target!
Then Boog stumbles upon McSquizzy (Billy Connolly), the tiny but very fierce leader of the squirrel community and basically the ruler of every tree in the forest. He speaks with this heavy Scottish accent, always has a huge squirrel army behind him, and comes fully prepared with loads of acorns. Small size, big attitude. As if that is not enough, Boog and Elliot also get laughed at by the beavers, led by Reilly (Jon Favreau), and even bullied by Elliot’s own deer herd. Seriously, these two cannot catch a break.
After wandering around for who knows how long, Boog finally notices that Elliot actually has no idea how to get him home. Of course Boog is angry… who would not be? Then Shaw starts firing at them before open season has even begun, Boog accidentally crashes into the beavers’ dam, and suddenly the whole forest goes crazy. From this point onwards… just hold on tight.
The water escape with Boog, Elliot and the porcupine was seriously one of my favourite scenes in the whole movie. They are spinning, crashing and being washed around by the current while trying to escape Shaw. It was fast, funny and actually quite exciting… finally something that made me sit up and pay attention! Of course, things cannot stay good for long. The flood washes all the animals down to the lower part of the forest exactly where they are more likely to be hunted. Great… just great.
At first, Boog just could not care less. All he wants is to find Beth, go back to his comfy garage and probably hug Dinkleman. But then he stumbles into Shaw’s house and notices that Elliot is going to be the hunter’s next victim. So yes… the big bear finally turns around and runs back to rescue his annoying little friend. This time, Boog and Elliot are done hiding. They decide to kick some hunter butt!
With help from McSquizzy, Reilly, the porcupine, the skunks, the ducks and practically every animal in the forest, everything starts heating up. Bras, forks, gas tanks, knives and whatever they can find becomes a weapon. Nothing goes to waste! The funniest part is watching every animal use its own strange little specialty to fight the hunters. It is messy, totally ridiculous and somehow very clever. Who knew bras and flying acorns could save the forest?
I think Open Season is a fun animated movie. Boog’s fur was seriously amazing and it totally deserves credit. The water scenes looked really cool too. The story is simple, the jokes are silly and I did laugh quite a bit. But somehow, something was still missing. I enjoyed it while watching, then once it ended, that was it. It just did not touch my heart enough for me to think, “Wow, this is really great.” Fun? Yes. Memorable? Not really.
It is seriously not bad… but if you ask me to choose, I would still pick Over the Hedge without thinking twice. At least that one had a clearer message and gave me something to take home. Yes, I know I am rather picky. But there are already so many animated movies out there. Cute characters and nice animation are not enough anymore. Give me some heart. Give me a memorable soundtrack. Give me one little lesson that stays with me.
So yes… if you want crazy animals, flying acorns and some easy laughs, then Open Season is seriously not bad for a fun watch with kids or friends. I enjoyed it, but somehow it still lacks that little something that makes me want to watch it again. The animation is nice, the chaos is funny, but the heart and message just did not hit me enough. My verdict? Quite fun lah, but Over the Hedge is still my pick.