Frère des ours 2

I found Brother Bear Two and inspirational and beautiful movie. What I was able to reap from the movie was that through adversity and many obstacles true love, be it the love of a family or the love of another in this case a bear to human that our own spirit will direct us. Their heart are intrinsically linked the movie shows that thought we all have difficulty it can be overcome. I absolutely loved the music it was inspirational also. Melissa Etherage is wonderful and her music was outstanding. I'm afraid that some were expecting the movie to be really funny and not expecting a heartfelt message. I'm truly sorry if they were disappointed. Personally I love the movie and rate it 10 of 10

"Brother Bear", released in 2003, is not one of the most popular Disney animated features, but like a number of the more popular ones, it did get the direct-to-video sequel treatment. "Brother Bear 2" was released in 2006. I saw the original for the first time just last month, nearly seven years after its release, and certainly didn't like it as much as some clearly do, but thought it was pretty good nonetheless. These Disney direct-to-video sequels aren't usually that good, and I figured this one would be no exception. Even though this one is more popular than some of the others, it didn't quite surpass my expectations. For the most part, I thought it was simply mediocre, with occasional funny moments, but also found that it got slightly better towards the end, so I thought it was still better than "Home on the Range".

Kenai now lives happily as a bear with his orphaned foster brother cub, Koda. Winter is almost over, and the bears have just awoken from hibernation. On their way to Crowberry Ridge to get berries, Kenai and Koda stop to sleep, and Kenai has a dream about Nita, a childhood friend of his, and it is then obvious that he is haunted by his memories of her. Meanwhile, Nita is about to get married, but the wedding is interrupted by the Spirits, who make it clear that they do not approve! When they were children, Kenai gave Nita an amulet, and she will not be able to marry somebody else unless she makes it to Hokani Falls in time for the vernal equinox and burns the amulet, and Kenai has to go with her. Innoko, the "sha-woman," puts Nita under a spell so she can communicate with bears, and Nita goes out to find Kenai and begin the trek to Hokani Falls. Along the way, the three of them (Kenai, Nita, and Koda) face more than one problem.

When I started watching this sequel, I already didn't find it very interesting, but knew this could change as the film went along. I didn't care much for the Nita character and the voice acting provided for her by Mandy Moore. The humour in "Brother Bear 2" usually doesn't work so well. Innoko, voiced by Wanda Sykes, is clearly supposed to be funny, but isn't, and basically, the same goes for Aunt Siqiniq and Aunt Taqqiq. Also Koda is once again pretty lame as a comic relief, and there are some poor lines in the film, such as Nita's comment when she sees Kenai as a bear for the first time. Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas returned to play Rutt and Tuke, the moose brothers based on the two actors' iconic "SCTV" alter egos, Bob and Doug McKenzie. If it weren't for them, the humour in this movie would generally miss the mark. The animation in this sequel is like that in the original "Brother Bear", pretty good, but not great. I also didn't find the adventure very entertaining for the most part. Towards the end, I found that there are some exciting and touching moments, which is what makes it slightly better at this point, and this is why I'm giving the film a 6/10 instead of a 5. So, "Brother Bear 2" may be entertaining for many kids and some adults as well, but unsurprisingly, like probably most of these direct-to-video sequels, I wouldn't call it a must-see.

I will admit I was not sure whether I wanted to see this sequel. I am not saying that all Disney sequels are terrible, Aladdin and the King of Thieves, Rescuers Down Under, Simbas's Pride, Enchanted Christmas and Bambi 2 were surprisingly good. However, Cinderella 2 and Jungle Book 2 were below par; both had average animation and a decent voice cast but everything else ranged from mediocre to poor, Cinderella 2 in the music and Jungle Book 2 in the plot.

What were my thoughts on Brother Bear 2 exactly? Well I was surprised. This sequel is above average, and you know what that is quite an achievement. Why do I say that? Well, the first Brother Bear has to be hard to beat in terms of quality. Like another Disney film like Pocahontas, it was visually stunning and I thought the music was awesome. Plus I found the characters engaging and the story heart warming. In fact, despite the flaws the first Brother Bear had, it is beautiful and very underrated.

Back on track, this sequel is inferior in quality to its original, but I admit I wasn't expecting otherwise. The story is a little thin on the ground, and not as well written and heart warming as the one in the first film. Also while there is some humour with the two Moose, the writing isn't quite as inspired. My next problem applies to a lot of the sequels come and gone, it is too short so there isn't quite enough character development.

That said though, a lot does compensate. Well for one thing, the animation is very nicely done. True it isn't as gorgeous or as detailed as the original's animation, but like Bambi 2, Ariel's Beginning and Cinderella 3 it's style is fluid and it is colourful. Some of the beginning scenes especially were like looking at a watercolour painting. Also the soundtrack is very nice, maybe not as catchy as Phil Collin's lively and fun one, that is good as the one he did for Tarzan, but the theme song is beautiful and very memorable. The characters are still likable, if we forgive the fact that Koda isn't quite as adorable anymore, and Nita reminds me in terms of looks of Mulan. And the voice acting is good, Patrick Dempsey is above decent as Kenai, but I do think Joaquin Pheonix put more heart and spirit into the character, and Mandy Moore is surprisingly emotive as Nita. Then like the original, there is some nice messaging.

All in all, not the best sequel there is, but it is above average and definitely worth the look. 7/10 Bethany Cox

The original 'Brother Bear' deserves better recognition as a good Disney animated film, so I was looking forward to seeing this straight to DVD sequel.

Now, these tend to be a bit hit and miss, but thankfully this is one of the better ones. There's a lot of heart, there's some lovely messages in there too.

I thought this worked well, I enjoyed it.

When I was younger I'd always prefer to watch the second brother bear to the first there's so much charm and warmness In this movie upon rewatching both brother bears I didn't even notice Joaquin Phoenix was gone in the second there's a lot of bad direct to video sequels and this certainly is not one of them full of soul and made with heart!