Brother Bear 2

As Brother Bear 2 opens, Kenai (Patrick Dempsey) is enjoying his new life in the forest as a full-fledged bear – with his days apparently spent frolicking and having fun with his surrogate brother, Koda (Jeremy Suarez). Problems ensue as a former love interest (Mandy Moore’s Nita) tracks Kenai down and explains that she can’t get married until the two of them destroy a pendant that he gave her when they were kids. Kenai and Nita subsequently embark on a journey to a special place where the pendant is to be melted down, with the growing bond between the pair leaving Koda confused and hurt. There’s little doubt that Brother Bear 2, for the most part, comes off as an affable yet entirely needless piece of work, as filmmaker Ben Gluck, working from Rich Burns’ script, is generally unable to wholeheartedly capture and sustain the viewer’s interest – with the ongoing emphasis on stand-alone segments (eg the central trio run afoul of several violent raccoons) ensuring that the movie is only sporadically engaging. The pervasive lack of momentum is exacerbated by Burn’s reliance on elements of a decidedly familiar nature (eg Koda’s jealousy over Kenai and Nita’s bond), with the film’s one saving grace the continued appearances by the irreverent moose characters from the original (Rick Moranis’ Rutt and Dave Thomas’ Tuke) – which cements Brother Bear 2‘s place as a passable sequel that won’t exactly bore adults but has clearly been designed to appeal primarily to younger viewers.

** out of ****