Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		3.5
Audio		3.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.0

Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman February 20, 2023

Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation is a somewhat vapid film that struggles to settle on a theme or an audience. On one hand it's Care Bears, which means an instant draw for young children, but on the other the film's story grows dark, quick, with terrifying imagery, a villain with red eyes, children in danger, and so on. The dynamics just feel way off, and the film never capitalizes as either a cuddly tale of good-natured bears or as an action-adventure with danger lurking around every corner. The film introduces a flurry of new characters and content, billed as "a new generation," but it also plays a prequel of sorts to the original 1985 movie, which released only a year prior. In short, it's a lot going on for little profit. It can be enjoyable at times, and it does not overextend its welcome, but there are superior Care Bears fare on the market, whether released prior to, or after, this film.

Join the adorable Care Bear family as they save the Kingdom of Caring from evil in this exciting adventure for the young and young at heart! Filled with music, magic and charm, this full-length feature film goes back in time to introduce the Care Bear Cubs and Care Cousin Cubs and shows how they grew up to become the champions of caring. Set in a peaceful summer camp, evil Dark Heart makes a bargain with an unhappy little girl to trap the Care Bears and destroy goodness. But when she learns the cost of her decision, she realizes that she must race to save them before it is too late. Featuring beautiful animation and songs by Stephen Bishop and Debbie Allen, 'Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation' is a heart-warming adventure for the whole family!

The film spans...galaxies? The Care Bears live beyond Earth and travel to Earth when an alarm sounds, signaling that someone, or a few somebodies, on earth need their help. Heaven help them if they're still working in 2023 because everyone is in need, but even in the 1980s there's plenty of need to go around. The Care Bears, here, travel to a quaint summer camp to help some kids and defeat an evil bad guy with red eyes and a red-hot temper. The story is at once both simple and complex, simple for the basic good-versus-evil yet complex in the myriad of moving parts that are somehow at work. A foundational knowledge of the Care Bears will certainly help, but the film's inability to settle on a tone and push a simpler storyline suitable for its audience is probably its single biggest downfall.

The animation is very reminiscent of 1980s cartoons, so stylistically the film feels right at home. Still, the film plays hastily and not well conceived, narratively and tonally to be sure but it struggles to hold to structural cohesion, too, failing to always offer the sort of buoyant, beautiful colors one might reasonably expect of a Care Bears film. The film's arcing themes and locales don't help. Honestly, this more than likely going to frighten young children as much as it is to tickle their fancy. The film is not dated, it's just lackluster in all ways, including any object lessons for kids, which are practically zero. The general theme of good-versus-evil stands out but doesn't make much of a memorable impact.

Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Sony's 1080p Blu-ray release of Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation is more than satisfactory, even if the image quality is a far cry from "perfect." The presentation does deal with some obvious problems, including some baked-on dirt and debris, which thankfully never rises to a level of debilitating or, even all that often, bothersome. Some light compression issues are evident, and some frame wobble is visible from time to time. The image is framed at the 178:1 aspect ratio, but there are a few shots where half of a character's head is lopped off at the top of the frame, and I am not sure of that is inherent to the original animation or a problem with framing (or even an OAR issue). Nevertheless, the film proper looks fine, holding to a natural grain structure that is fairly even and pleasing throughout. The image is well detailed, with the source animation flourishing at this resolution, allowing audiences to soak in all of the hand-drawn goodness on display, whether motion characters or static background objects. Colors could stand to be a little more vibrant; for all the color the palette has a mildly depressed look about it, but there's enough general depth and punch to satisfy the various reds and purples and other bolder tones that define the movie. This is not a looker, but it certainly looks good enough.

Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Sony releases Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation to Blu-ray with a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 lossless soundtrack. The presentation is largely at the mercy of the original source elements, which are generally satisfactory but simply do not yield a precise, invigorating, or even all that enveloping sound experience. The audio certainly lacks crispness and exacting definition. There's a muddiness and a mild harshness to the opening score. However, some of the darker and deeper musical elements do find a decent amount of body, but the absence of a dedicated subwoofer channel does limit the low-end pronouncement and distinction. There's not a good sense of balance, either as front-end stretch appears to find its limits in the area between center and the front left and right channels. A vicious storm at sea in the opening minutes offers plenty of audio elements but not much immersion or distinction. Cracking thunder and rushing waves are identifiable but struggle to present with much precision clarity. Throughout the movie, a myriad of sound elements, some playfully light, others disturbingly dark, try to find good clarity and positioning parameters but the elements never really come together with a real sense of transparent seamlessness. Certainly, some basic sense of place is on offer, but listeners will not discover this track to be one of absolute pinpoint accuracy in any area of concern. Dialogue is clear enough, whether narration of character speech, and it plays with an adequate attempt to image to the center area.

Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Blu-ray release of Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation contains no supplemental content. There is no top menu screen. Film playback begins immediately upon disc insertion. the pop-up menu offers only one option for "setup" which simply allows users to toggle on the subtitle options. No DVD or digital copies are included with purchase. This release does not ship with a slipcover. This is as bare-bones as they come.

Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation stumbles about without much tonal focus, offering cute-and-cuddly here and dark and brooding there. It's a strange concoction and was probably more at home in the mid-80s than it is in the 2020s. Young children might still enjoy it if they can get beyond the "scary parts," but for older kids and adults the film holds little value beyond a shot of nostalgia. Sony's Blu-ray is as bare bones as they come in terms of bonus content. The video quality is fine, and the audio is passable. Skip it.