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
