Yogi Bear

To bring the younger viewers up to speed - Yogi Bear has been around since the 1960s, he started as a cartoon "pick-a-nic" basket-stealing bear in Jellystone Park. He had a good run for several years and eventually faded into the background with a few television reboots along the way. Thanks to 3D live-action/ CGI wizardry, Yogi is back on the big screen. In the new "Yogi Bear" movie, he appears brand new in all of his CGI magnificence yet he maintains his familiar look and catch phrases at the same time. He's hasn't come back alone, he brought his old side kick Boo Boo, also in CGI, and his friendly nemesis Park Ranger Smith.

Yogi (voiced by Dan Aykroyd) starts the movie with what he is known for - stealing picnic baskets from visitors of Jellystone Park. In Aykroyd's best Ed Norton impersonation (for the younger viewers that is a character from the 1950s television series "The Honeymooners") he self narrates his strategies so not to lose the audience along the way. Yogi and his accomplice in petty thievery, Boo Boo (voiced by Justin Timberlake) are continually devising new methods to steal food from the tourists to Jellystone Park. Yogi is the da Vinci mastermind while Boo Boo is the rational voice of conscientiousness. They opt for stealing because the alternative is to resort to foraging for food like the "average bear." Word about Yogi's pilfering gets back to Ranger Smith (played by Tom Cavanagh) who has a long history of battling with Yogi. Instead of just shooting Yogi full of tranquilizer darts and dragging his body to another park (that's my idea, it's not in the movie), Ranger Smith uses his sternness to reprimand Yogi therefore upholding law and order within Jellystone. Yogi soon goes back to his cave and Ranger Smith goes back to his cabin and the cycle of picnic basket pilfering continues.

Meanwhile, back in Franklin City, Mayor Brown (played by Andrew Daly) is making plans to sell off Jellystone. He needs the money to bring his city out of debt and with a coy evilness, he rationalizes that each resident of Franklin City will make money off the deal. Daly was a fresh enjoyment to watch as the nemesis; delivering his role so both children and adults could pick up on the humor of a fun yet despicable character.

A three-way conflict soon begins with Ranger Smith stuck in the middle. Yogi is disrupting the tourists and the mayor is trying to close Jellystone Park. Then, in steps Rachel (played by Anna Farris) who is filming a nature documentary. On top of that Ranger Jones (played by TJ Miller) is gunning for the job of top ranger (it's funny because there are only two rangers for the entire park). It seems like a multi-level story line but the director, Eric Brevig, presents the smaller stories in a clear-cut linear format where even the youngest viewer can pick up on what is happening.

While tension is building between Mayor Brown and Ranger Smith, the 100th anniversary of Jellystone is upon them. At the celebration, Yogi (who was only trying to help) ruins everything and the park closes. At Ranger Smith's lowest point, he loses not only the park and his job, but also a chance with Rachel too. Knowing that his intelligence is also a hindrance, Yogi tries a life of being an "average bear" but that doesn't suit him. He and Boo Boo soon devise a scheme to rescue the park and to stop Mayor Brown from becoming Governor Brown.

Should you see this movie? Yes, it's simple yet charming. There were a lot of jokes for an older and younger audience. You didn't have to grow up with the cartoon to enjoy this newer version of an old classic, just be a fan of clean humor.

Yogi Bear is not a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination, but it is not wholly deserving of the hate I have seen it get. When I first saw it advertised, in all honesty Yogi Bear looked like an abomination. I thought that a memorable Hanna-Barbera character in a movie in 3D would not work, the plot line seemed uninteresting and then when I saw that Dan Aykroyd and Justin Timberlake as the cartoon characters that put the final nail in the coffin.

But despite the many reservations I had of Yogi Bear, I still went to see it. And I kind of enjoyed it. That said, it does have a lot of problems, and I'd say some of these problems are quite bad. I am very fond of the Yogi Bear cartoon, and I do think the movie did a serviceable enough job to maintain its spirit. The movie though does have a very predictable and sometimes generic plot line, but in some ways the original cartoon had its predictable spots as did almost all the Hanna Barbera cartoons. The script does have its funny and humorous spots, but along the way there is the odd lame joke and cheesy line complete with some very unoriginal slapstick. Yogi Bear is also too short, and has some very uneven pacing feeling rushed one minute and too slow the next. And I wish I could praise some of the live-action actors, but I can't as a vast majority of the actors are very lacking in charisma and warmth.

However, despite what the advertising suggested, Yogi Bear does look quite decent. The scenery and colours are vibrant and colourful, Yogi and Boo Boo are quite well-modelled and the editing is crisp enough. And the 3D while not exceptional and perhaps not always necessary is nowhere near as bad as I feared. When it comes to any memorable scenes or set pieces, the standout is the white-water rafting ride down the river, which was inspired and visually inventive. The soundtrack is rousing and energetic, there are some dialogue and jokes I enjoyed as most of the banter and chemistry between Yogi and Boo Boo are a joy. The voice work is also better than I thought, Aykroyd's voice takes a while to get used to but he does make an effort and it shows, but Timberlake(who I actually was more worried about) nails Boo Boo.

In conclusion, entertaining but too flawed to make a bigger impression. 6/10 Bethany Cox

In the new animation Yogi Bear even the voices of Dan Aykroyd as Yogi and Justin Timberlake as Boo Boo aren't able to take a lumbering script and make it less than soporific for adults. But, then, this movie is for youngsters about 5 years old, no older, so it has found an audience that might be mildly amused, as mine was.

In this derivation from the once popular TV series, a documentary filmmaker, Rachel (Anna Farris), falls in love with Ranger Smith (Tom Cavanagh) while she witnesses his struggle with nefarious forces that threaten the future and ecology of Jellystone National Park. Yogi and Boo are not a help even though they'd like to be because Yogi regularly disproves his boast that he's "smarter than the average bear." This comedy, magnified but not improved, by 3-D is not smarter than the average animation.

Another classic cartoon character comes to the big screen, there was Popeye, Scooby Doo, Garfield, and now there is the mischievous picnic basket stealing bear named Yogi.

Now the CGI animation of Yogi and Boo Boo is pretty good, and the voice talents of Dan Ackroyd and Justin Timberlake is also good. But Tom Cavanagh as Ranger Smith is not funny, he comes across trying way to hard, it looked like he was telling the audience "I'm funny, please laugh at me". Anna Faris starts out as a dull character at the beginning, but she gets better as the movie goes on. And T.J. Miller is just wasting his talent here. But it does have good share of adventure at times. But I think the little kids will enjoy more than adults.

It's easy to slam a movie like "Yogi Bear"- just talk about how simplistic the script written by no less than three writers; or how childish the antics are of the titular character and his cautious sidekick, Boo-Boo; or even how repetitive pic-a-nic basket stealing gets. Yes, they are all fair observations of this live-action adaptation of the 1960s Hanna-Barbera cartoon, but I wouldn't go so far as to criticise the movie for these very traits.

If you've seen the Saturday morning cartoons, you'll find that this film actually stays extremely faithful to its source. In them, Yogi goes around doing perhaps one thing and one thing only- that's right, stealing pic-a-nic baskets and thinking to himself how he's "smarter than the average bear"- together with Boo-Boo, occasionally running into Jellystone National Park's head ranger Smith who yells at him for disturbing the peace.

We used to laugh at Yogi's foolish schemes (or at least I remember I did), so why is it so difficult to laugh at the same things all over again? Sure many of us who have enjoyed those cartoons may have grown up, but that's not a fault of the film, especially when those in the audience who were of the age when we were watching the cartoons were obviously having a great time.

Around the regular pic-a-nic stealing, writers Jeffrey Ventimilia, Joshua Sternin and Brad Copeland have spun an eco-friendly story of the unscrupulous town mayor (Andrew Daly) who aims to sell off Jellystone to the loggers to cover the city's deficit. Needless to say, it will be up to Ranger Smith, his love interest the nature documentarian Rachel (Anna Faris), and of course Yogi and Boo-Boo to save the day. Yes it's simple but the plot is just serviceable enough to be the glue this live-action treatment needs.

Ultimately, the stars of the show were always Yogi and Boo-Boo, and in this regard, both the voice actors and the animators have done a wonderful job. Dan Aykroyd does his best Daws Butler impersonation for Yogi Bear, most impressive for nailing his character's distinctive speech patterns. Just as outstanding is Justin Timberlake, clearly relishing the opportunity to disappear into the role of Boo-Boo, complete with the trademark nasal delivery. It's especially interesting to think how Timberlake sounds so uncannily like the classic Don Messick.

Director Eric Brevig (of 2008's "Journey to the Centre of the Earth") keeps the gags flying fast and furious, so even if some of the supposed verbal punchlines fall flat, there is always something visually appealing to hold your attention. An Oscar-nominated effects specialist, Brevig makes great use of the stereoscopy to deliver all sorts of visual gimmicks- whether something flying in your face or hurling you along- but it adds nicely to the fun.

And that's one word that sums up what it's all meant to be about- "fun", good clean harmless fun like how the cartoons were 40 years ago, and a trip down memory lane for those who have seen the originals. There'll be many tempted to ride the wave of criticism surrounding this movie, but if you know what you're in for, then "Yogi Bear" should just be the perfect family entertainment this holiday season.