Bears

"Bears" is one of a series of documentaries produced by Disney's "Disney Nature" division, and this one focuses on a mother bear and her two cubs, following them over the course of a few seasons. It begins as they awaken from winter hibernation, and watches as the mother tries to protect her offspring and show them how to obtain food, which sometimes looks to be in short supply. There are also dangers to overcome, such as the threats posed by bigger and meaner bears, a rogue wolf, and nature itself.

Overall, a good if not great film. It's marked by exemplary filmmaking, with top notch photography of many beautiful Alaska locations. It benefits from an engaging cast of animal characters. Although, like so many things aiming for a family audience, it does tend to get awfully precious. This viewer thought that giving the animals character names like "Sky", "Scout", and "Amber" was overly cute, and the film IS manipulative, to be sure, with some overstated music. Actor John C. Reilly recites the narration, and while his recitation is amiable enough, the stuff he has to utter can be incredibly goofy. "Hey, Mom! Wait up!"

This viewer would imagine the other Disney Nature documentaries pretty much follow the same formula, although the intentions are certainly admirable. Any film that aims at young viewers and attempts to teach them respect for Mother Nature and the animal kingdom is alright in his book.

Seven out of 10.

I watched Disney's "Bears," during the opening weekend. I support the Earth Day films they make each year. Of the ones I have seen in the past ("Oceans," "African Cats," and "Chimpanzee,"), this one is not the best one they have done, but it is still enjoyable. The film is a tad slow, and at 77 minutes, you get the sense the filmmakers had to stretch the movie out to even reach 77 minutes. The end credits showed a lot of the filming, and I got the sense it could have been longer.

The good things about the film is watching the bear cubs play and frolic and their journey with their mother. The film lacks a lot of breathtaking panoramas and scenes considering it is a nature film, but the scenes showing all of the Alaskan mountains are gorgeous. I like John C. Reilly, but to be honest, his narration did not exactly add to the presentation.

Beautiful-looking documentary from Disney. It's harmless fluff. There's no footage of bears killing other animals (besides fish) and the few bear fights they show result in no bloodshed. I'm not sure why it was even made as you can find such nature documentaries on television all the time. Still, it is pleasant to watch. There is a somewhat annoying narration from John C. Reilly. I get that Disney wanted this to appeal to kids so having a comedian with a silly voice is understandable from a marketing standpoint. But the documentary does have serious moments and Reilly pretty much ruins all of those. It's worth watching if you love animals and nature footage. But be prepared for it to be slow-moving and a little too cutesy at times. If you have kids, they will likely enjoy it more than you do.

"Bears" is an okay choice for a family audience looking for a nature documentary. Adults, either by themselves or with other adults, may find a few problems with it. For one thing, while this adult was wanting to learn more about bears, the movie is less educational than you might think. The documentary certainly shows over and over that bears have to constantly struggle in the wilderness, but I wanted to learn more than just that. Also, the documentary on occasion suffers from some juvenile dialogue. But I think the reason for both of those problems is that the filmmakers were trying to appeal to kids in the audience. Had the documentary been more informative and more sober in its narration, kids would probably get bored quickly. And I will admit that the documentary has some strengths. The photography is stunning, there are some exciting moments, and I will admit I was never bored. And at 77 minutes, the movie does not outstay its welcome. It's not the best nature documentary I've seen, but it's far from the worst.

Bears are such wonderful and wonderfully varied animals, they can be very dangerous but also very cute. Personally like John C Reilly as an actor, he has proven that he can be very funny but also capable of pulling off drama poignantly (especially evident in the title role in the 'Wreck It Ralph' films and as Oliver Hardy in 'Stan and Ollie'). Have said more than once too about loving Disney and nature documentaries, though some of the DisneyNature documentaries fare a lot better than others.

2014's 'Bears' is neither one of the best ('Earth', 'Oceans'), nor is it one of the worst ('Elephant', 'Born in China'). Along with 'Monkey Kingdom' and 'Penguins', 'Bears' is around solid middle which is a good distinction to be in. It does fall short of being a great documentary with a few things that could have been better or things that there could of been less of, but there are so many great things and nothing is executed disastrously. Even its Achilles heel.

The good things will be started first. What DisneyNature documentaries have in common is that they are extremely well made. Calling 'Bears' extremely well made is not doing it justice enough, it actually looks absolutely stunning. The scenery is majestic in colour and scope and while it is beautiful for the eyes it is sometimes suitably unforgiving. The bears and all the other animals that feature are captured absolutely beautifully on film and a great job is done making them look as great as possible. All enhanced by the photography, which at its very best is just jaw dropping. The music on the most part is fine, it fits well tonally and doesn't feel too overused or melodramatic. Did appreciate that some values and messaging were included, they were relatable ones and they were not laid on too thick.

A major star in 'Bears' is the bears themselves. There is a wide variety of them, big and little and cute and more predatory and they are all interesting in personality and information. Actually found myself learning a lot about them, so 'Bears' did do better than most DisneyNature documentaries in the educational aspect and providing facts that illuminate. Their personalities all shine too and are immensely engaging, as well as suitably varied in emotions. As well as being educational, they also have an emotional journey with tense but not too disturbing struggles. Tonally, 'Bears' is just about right, occasionally it is on the juvenile side (other DisneyNature documentaries did this worse though) but unlike 'Born in China' it is very easy to tell which audience was intended and it doesn't try to do too much. Many parts excite and there are no dull stretches.

Was rather mixed on the narration, certainly didn't hate it but didn't love it either. It does entertain and inform and Reilly delivers with a lot of enthusiasm. Do agree though that there could have been less of it, especially in the emotional moments where it was completely unnecessary. Some of it is too over-explanatory, explaining what was going on when it was very clear what was happening, and with some clumsy attempts at jokey humour that jarred on occasion.

Occasionally, 'Bears' is a little intrusive in scoring.

In conclusion though, well executed and close to being great. Would have been if the narration was better done. 7/10