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Movie review: ‘Yogi Bear’
Yogi Bear: Not Smarter than the Average Kids’ Movie, But Still Fun
By Sandra Olmsted
It’s a big dose of nostalgia when Yogi Bear and Boo-Boo come to life on the big screen and in 3D. They are also playing against live actors in a film that seamlessly combine 3D animation with live action.
Ranger Smith (Tom Cavanagh) talks to Yogi Bear (Dan Aykroyd) who is busily plotting the nabbing of picnic baskets, Boo-Boo (voice of Justin Timberlake), as deadpan as ever, tries to convince his best friend that stealing the baskets is wrong and will also upset Ranger Smith.
Although director Eric Brevig gives the 1960s TV series a “green” theme and adds some political messages, the basics of the original, The Yogi Bear Show, remain in tack. Brevig also makes good, if appropriately cartoonish, use of the 3D medium. For the Yogi purists, the changes maybe a little too much, but adapting a much loved cartoon to a feature film requires that some more dramatic events than stealing picnic baskets and annoying the tourist who come to Jellystone to added. Some of the additions work better than others.
While Yogi, expertly voiced by Dan Aykroyd, is busily plotting the nabbing of picnic baskets, Boo-Boo (voice of Justin Timberlake), as deadpan as ever, tries to convince his best friend that stealing the baskets is wrong and will also upset Ranger Smith, actually the son of the original ranger. Smith (Tom Cavanagh) leisurely contemplates celebrating the 100th anniversary of beautiful Jellystone Park and tries to keep his assistant, Ranger Jones (T. J. Miller), busy when so few people visit the park any more. Then Rachel (Anna Faris), documentary filmmaker who wants to make a film about Yogi, shows up, and Smith is immediately smitten with her. Rachel puts a camera in Boo-Boo’s bow tie and sends him out to capture raw footage of Yogi’s adventures.
Meanwhile, the mayor (Andrew Daly) of the nearest town, which also controls Jellystone, is struggling with a budget problem – the city is broke – because he wastes the city’s money and uses it for personal expenses. In order to make himself look good and get people to elect him governor, he needs to make money for the city and quick. He decides to sell the logging rights to Jellystone, and when he delivers the news to Ranger Smith, Smith buys a little time by claiming he can come up with the park’s $30,000 the operating budget. After explaining to Yogi that annoying tourists and stealing picnic baskets has to end or all will be lost, Smith and Rachel plan a huge birthday party for the park. Of course, Yogi wants to do his part, and that can only mean trouble.
One of the fun things about the film for youngsters is hoping that Smith and Rachel will remember the Bear-cam Boo-Boo is wearing, but this is also one of the problems with the films, because the endangered species that the camera captures isn’t the talking bears. The storyline, as a whole, just requires too great a suspension of belief; however, there are some good things about the film.
First, the story is ideal for youngsters, who squealed with delight several times during the screening, and the pace is generally fast enough to keep the audience entertained. Also, Cavanagh and Faris have surprisingly good chemistry as two nerdy naturalists who fall in love and embark on a quest to save Jellystone. Yogi gets to help in the quest, too and use the inventions he’s been making in his cave. Miller as Ranger Jones, who is in cohoots with the mayor, and Nathan Corddry as the mayor’s toady and Chief of Staff, make wonderfully smarmy lackeys. Daly is a delightfully buffoonish bad guy who doesn’t deserve to be the governor. The visuals are exciting and fun, and even though, the old trick of objects flying into the audience are used too frequently, the live action and the animation combination works looks good.
Yogi Bear is a Warner Bros. Pictures release. The film has the kid-friendly running time and rate, respectively, of 80 minutes and of PG for some mild rude humor, although some mild, don’t-try-this-at-home, slap-stick might be of concern for some parents. Yogi Bear opens Dec. 17, just in time for the holiday break for school-age children. They might even learn something about natural and environmental science, along with the political messages.
