Yogi Bear is a soulless picture with a terrible script and acting from people who knew they weren’t making high class family entertainment. The visual effects were at least half decent but everything else was either dumb or unfunny, a deadly combination for any comedy.
YOGI BEAR
Yogi Bear (2010)
REVIEW NAVIGATION
The Movie | Special Features | Video Quality | Audio Quality | Overall
Genre(s): Animation, Family, Comedy
Warner Bros. | PG – 80 min. – $27.98 | March 22, 2011
MOVIE INFO:
Directed by: Eric Brevig
Writer(s): Jeffrey Ventimilia & Joshua Sternin and Brad Copeland (written by)
Cast: Dan Aykroyd, Justin Timberlake (voices); Anna Faris, Tom Cavanagh
Theatrical Release Date: December 17, 2010
DISC INFO:
Features: Featurettes
Number of Discs: 1
Audio: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 5.1), Spanish (Dolby Digital 5.1)
Video: Widescreen 1.78
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
THE MOVIE – 1.5/5
“I love this place!” exclaims Rachel, the character played stiffly by Anna Faris. I wonder if Faris had walked into Warner Brothers thinking she was auditioning for the next Batman movie and they drugged her and instead she signed on to this stinker known as Yogi Bear, the latest addition in a sadly long list of ill advised cartoon-to-live action adaptations (see: Garfield and Alvin and the Chipmunks).
The story seemed to be lifted from, of all places, Dr. Dolittle 2 as thanks to a state funding shortfall and an unscrupulous mayor (ANDREW DALY) with ambitions for the governorship decides the way to raise funds is to close down Jellystone National Park and cut down the trees providing a windfall for the city and the ass hat can pay off voters with $1000 checks.
One of the reasons apparently for the park’s demolition is that one Yogi Bear (voiced by DAN AYKROYD) and his pal Boo-Boo (JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE) wreak havoc amongst visitors as Yogi does his darnest to steal their… don’t make me write it… pic-a-nic baskets (*sigh*). This greatly displeases Ranger Smith (TOM CAVANAUGH) – in that he makes goofy faces – as he wishes Yogi would just act like a regular bear. But then his attentions are diverted when naturist Rachel (FARIS) stops by to shoot a documentary and decides she wants Yogi and Boo-Boo to be the center of it so she outfits Boo-Boo with a camera hidden inside a bow tie (no doubt that will come in handy).
Anyway, back to the deforestation scheme, Ranger Smith tries to save the park by raising enough money to keep the place in the black for the fiscal year but as you might guess, Yogi gets in the way despite his best intentions. Trying to be the center of attention, he puts on a show for the packed park by water skiing which brings one question that you might ask: why wouldn’t a walking and talking bear be impressive? Well, apparently that’s something accepted as we learn later after Yogi and Boo-Boo venture into the city and nobody blinks an eye at the sight… While I agree a stunt bear is amazing, one would assume a walking and talking one would bring in just as much revenue.
In regards to the casting, not to disparage any of these fine actors, I realize mortgages have to get paid so any opportunity for a decent paycheck should be jumped on and with this group, I can understand why. So I can’t really fault them here especially with a script this ridiculous and jokes that completely fall flat. Having seen “Scrubs” and “Ed”, I know Tom Cavanaugh is a good actor. Ditto for Anna Faris, at least comedy wise, with her performances in the Scary Movie… movies. Those tended to be a mess with terrible jokes but she seemed to give it her all. With Yogi Bear, both of them knew they were in a crap movie and tried to make the best of it.
Speaking of making the best of it, I will admit the voice casting at least did get it right with Dan Aykroyd as Yogi and Justin Timberlake as Boo-Boo. Unfortunately as good as the two sound, and from memory they were fairly close to the old animated series, the humor was downright awful with only one or two jokes actually getting a measly chuckle out of me.
Directed by Eric Brevig (Journey to the Center of the Earth), Yogi Bear is a soulless picture with a terrible script – by writers who brought you Tooth Fairy and Wild Hogs (and one has a Gilligan’s Island adaptation coming up), and acting from people who knew they weren’t making high class family entertainment. The visual effects were at least half decent but everything else was either dumb or unfunny, a deadly combination for any comedy.
SPECIAL FEATURES – 0.5/5
Jellystone Park Jewel: Litterbug (1:29) – Ranger Jones talks about litter in this skit.
Jellystone Park Jewel: Yogi’s Secret Hiding Spot (1:46) – Ranger Jones shows the objects Yogi has hidden in the forest (well, behind a tree). It’s just a lame, lame skit.
Yogi Bear Mash-Up (3:37) – Here you can look at a comparison between the live action movie and the animated television show mixed in with sound bites by the cast.
VIDEO – 3/5
Yogi Bear is presented with a 1.78 aspect ratio (shown in theaters in 1.85) and as with other Warner releases, has a fair amount of pixilation. It’s certainly not the worst SD video transfer I’ve encountered but it’s not great either.
AUDIO – 3.5/5
The disc gets a standard Dolby Digital 5.1 track. It’s nothing special but gets the job done with clear dialogue levels and some OK sound effects making use of the other channels.
OVERALL – 1.5/5
Younger viewers (and I mean 5 and under) might have a fun time but the adults may want to gauge their eyes out and cover their ears. There’s very little about Yogi Bear that I can recommend. The voice acting might’ve at least been pretty good but when you don’t material that works, the entire picture falls flat.
Brian Oliver, The Movieman
Published: 03/19/2011
