Bears

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.

I was delighted to find "Bears". What was so amazing about this movie were the close-up shots of many personal moments for this bear family. I just wondered throughout the entire movie how the film makers could have this repertoire with these wild creatures. Being a pro photographer myself, I could tell that the lenses they used were not extremely long telephoto lenses. This was better, more personal than a National Geographic documentary. The images were so sharp and colorful, it just lead me to want to visit, or live, in Alaska. The panoramas were huge, majestic, post card perfect. The narrative was helpful; I needed to know what motivated the bears through their journey; the narrative answered that. Violence between bears was muted compared to what I know they can do to one another. So, this movie is safe for little children I feel. Yes, they eat Salmon fish in the river, but I eat Salmon fish too, on a plate. Did you know that bears live at the top of the peaks of mountains? I didn't know that. They carve themselves out of their hiding place from the very top of a high mountain! This movie goes into the details of a bears life from its infancy. So, your heart will be touched and warmed up by their cute behaviors. Your city life woes will all melt away when you follow them through all of the problems that bears encounter during a year's time. Yes, I do feel that "Sky", the mother bear, should be nominated for an Oscar. If Snow White and her 7 Dwarfs were winners for the Oscar, "Sky" & "Scout" & "Amber" should also be considered. This movie has its villains and its funny friends. DisneyNature is a wide eye opening presentation. There was applause from the audience at its conclusion. I felt that this movie "brought me back" to a good feeling after I had been "crashed" by a scifi movie I had seen earlier. "Bears" is good family entertainment, and as I said, it will transport you to lush, clear and clean adventure in Alaska. Now I understand why people live there.

"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

Great little story that shows the hardships of motherhood in nature. The animals have names and there is a slight narrative thread with some of the recurring bears and other predators.

The movie features plenty of beautiful shots of nature be it the breathtaking Alaskan Alps or the beauty and colours of a meadow. You will also see breathtaking sights like the best avalanche ever filmed and some intense bear fights and close calls. There's also an amazing scene with an eagle being a dick to a falcon. The movie also features a slew of different animals like Wolves, Foxes, Ravens, Eagles, Falcons, Rock Eels, etc.

The movie does have 2 major flaws. First is John C. Reilly. He never really seems all that into it and almost every attempt at humor falls flat. Also his monotone voice when explaining things gets pretty dull and boring. Secondly a lot of the film seems to be at 0.5 speed. Not slo-mo but very close and most times it's just unneeded and it detract from what's happening.

This has been a green review.