Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.0

Brother Bear 2 Blu-ray Movie Review

"Once you love someone, they stay in your heart forever."

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown March 11, 2013

Disney is keenly aware of the appeal and reach of its catalog, down to the best and worst films under the Mouse House banner. Titles like Cinderella and Peter Pan arrive separately and to great fanfare, while other titles shuffle onto shelves en masse, sans the red-carpet treatment afforded their Platinum and Diamond Edition brethren. Last year, it was The Aristocats, The Rescuers, The Rescuers Down Under, Pocahontas, Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World, The Tigger Movie and Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure, all of which released in a single week in August. This year the mois du jour is March, and the releases include Robert Zemeckis's Who Framed Roger Rabbit (the fan-favorite odd man out in the March 12th lineup) and a trio of 2-Movie Collection Blu-rays: The Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Hunchback of Notre Dame II, Mulan and Mulan II, and Brother Bear and Brother Bear 2. (Atlantis: The Lost Empire and Atlantis: Milo's Return were originally set for March 12th as well but were unceremoniously and indefinitely delayed without explanation.) And, once again, the deluge is another hit or miss affair, with a classic live-action/animation hybrid, three solid (or at least decent) animated features and a near-unbearable batch of direct-to-video misfires.

Brother Bear 2 is one of those misfires. It doesn't amount to much or surpass the original, and tends to belabor its few strengths. Part rehash, part functional followup, its saving grace is the adequately colorful, family-friendly adventure it entails, which young children will find mildly appealing.

Brother Bear 2 sinks a bit deeper into the cartoon mire, forgoing the first film's grandeur for the most part to focus on Kenai (Patrick Dempsey, stepping in for Joaquin Phoenix) and a previously unrevealed relationship with a human. But I'm getting ahead of myself. The sequel opens as winter draws to a close. Kenai and Koda (Jeremy Suarez) find themselves entangled in a messy plot involving Nita (Mandy Moore), a girl from another tribe Kenai was meant to marry when the two came of age. That was before Kenai was, well, a bear, though, so you can see how that might complicate things. What follows is an extended bit of hemming and hawing in which Kenai is torn between his new life as an animal and his old life as a man. Kenai doesn't want to abandon Koda (which leads to some warm, heartfelt exchanges), Nita would rather spend her years with Kenai than third wheel Atka (Jeff Bennett), Koda wants Kenai to be happy but doesn't want to be left alone... round and round it goes, where it stops? You'll see it coming from a supernatural transformation away.

I remain baffled as to why Disney Animation is so obsessed with the trials and tribulations of arranged marriage -- it's hardly a hot topic among third graders -- and yet it continues to be a recurring theme in the studio's animated projects. Brother Bear 2's slapdash treatment, ambling script and direct-to-video production values naturally don't help, and only dilutes any subsequent drama or romance a more polished theatrical sequel might have offered. Kenai's life as a bear makes for a far less compelling story than the hunter's initial foray into the animal kingdom and the senseless heartstring plucking is more akin to pounding away at a war drum. The regression not only diminishes the decision Kenai made at the end of the first film, it bypasses the real meat of its premise. Specifically, how Nita deals with the fact that her betrothed isn't a human anymore. Fully expected and comically unavoidable as it is, the resolution that comes is neither satisfying nor properly nurtured, and only increases the ick factor exponentially. Apparently Nita's love transcends appearance and her own species, while Kenai's lifelong loyalty to his brother and people can't possibly compete with his half-year membership in the bear club. Try not to mull it over too much, though. Again, the ick factor spikes violently if you do.

Brother Bear 2 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The sequel's television-quality animation obviously disappoints compared to that of the first film, although not nearly as much as the lackluster animation that drags down other Disney direct-to-video sequels of the era. Fortunately, the studio's more-than-solid 1080p/AVC-encoded video presentation helps alleviate most of the sting. Colors are warm and pleasant, primaries are vivid, contrast and black levels are able-bodied, and detail is exacting to a fault. Moreover, there isn't much in the way of compression artifacts or aliasing, and nothing in the way of the print damage and general unsightliness that plagued The Hunchback of Notre Dame II. The picture is pristine, and only a few instances of banding spoil the proceedings. All told, Brother Bear 2 and its presentation don't fare as well as their first film counterparts, but the source, not the encode, is largely to blame. Otherwise, no serious complaints here.

Brother Bear 2 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The direct-to-video sequel's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track is a bit more front-heavy than the first film's lossless mix, but it's no less proficient. Dialogue is clean and intelligible, the LFE channel adds welcome weight and presence to a fairly weightless series of events, and rear speaker activity is decidedly decent, sparse and unassertive as it can be at times. There isn't much more to the DTV experience, unfortunately, and rare is the scene that takes advantage of the soundfield. Again, though, the culprit here, like Brother Bear, is the sequel's sound design; underwhelming and uninspiring, yes, but on point all the same.

Brother Bear 2 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Behind the Music (SD, 8 minutes): Producers Jim Ballantine and Susan Kirch, director Ben Gluck and other notable members of the sequel team touch on the music in Brother Bear 2.

Brother Bear 2 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The orphan of Disney's March 12th releases, the Brother Bear 2-Movie Collection still delivers the goods when it comes to AV quality and, where the first film is concerned, supplemental content. There are ups and downs -- Brother Bear's video presentation being the high point of the release, Brother Bear 2's special features (or lack thereof) being the unmistakable low point -- but fans of the original film will be pleased with the collection's treatment overall.