Did you ever judge and neglect a book by its cover, only to be pleasantly surprised later by its content? That is the case with Open Season 2 and myself. Not only is the movie a direct-to-video release, but also the cover art looks like a film only a kid could possibly love. The truth of the matter is that I actually liked the film after my initial viewing. Like most animated releases of the modern day, the subject matter is much more adult than the studios will ever admit. I am afraid most of the inside jokes and content will go completely over a kid’s head. It makes me wonder just how many animated features, growing up as a kid, that I missed out on the true meaning of them because I was not old enough to understand. Anyway, let’s move on and discuss the animated film, Open Season 2, in greater detail. Shall we?
Film 
Open Season 2 is a direct-to-video sequel to the 2006 hit animated movie Open Season. Surprisingly, although this is not the case in the United States or UK, Open Season 2 was released theatrically in some countries last fall. The stars of the voice cast include the likes of Mike Epps, Joel McHale, Cody Cameron, Jane Krakowski, Billy Connolly and Crispin Glover. At the time of this writing, the movie has scored mixed user reviews on IMDB.
Having never seen the first Open Season film, I think may have missed out on the blossoming love relationship between Giselle (Krakowski) and Elliot (McHale). Open Season 2 begins with the wedding between Giselle and Elliot, but it quickly takes a detour when Mr. Weenie (Cameron), having lived the free life in the wild all this time (something I probably missed out on again from not seeing the first film), is kidnapped by his former owners. Boog (Epps), Elliot, McSquizzy (Connolly), Buddy and the rest of the wild gang launch a full-scale rescue mission to rescue Weenie, but soon find themselves in situations where improvising becomes critical to success. Of course this means that the wedding between Giselle and Elliot is temporarily postponed, making for a very unhappy bride and a much-relieved groom. You see…I guess you can say that Elliot is having a classic case of cold feet and is having trouble coping with the definitive terms forever and ever. Amusingly, he did not know about the last “ever” part. That cracks me up!
Eventually our beloved characters find themselves deep in the heart of the enemy camp…that is a camp park specifically designed for owners and their pets. That is where they meet the enemy leader, a toy poodle named Fifi (Glover). Neither side plans to let Mr. Weenie go without a fight. This is a film any dog lover will take absolute delight in, as the dogs literally take on a personality of their own in this film. Can a dictator-like toy poodle really mastermind and take down the resistance fighters that include a 900-pound grizzly bear? What will happen to the fate of Mr. Weenie? Most importantly, will Elliot ever conquer his fear and marry Giselle? For these answers and more, you will just have to find out for yourself when Open Season 2 releases on the Blu-ray format January 27th .
Video 
Sony brings Open Season 2 to the Blu-ray format with a simply gorgeous and breathtaking video transfer. I guess that is hard not to do when one is working with a direct digital source, but I found nothing to complain about with the captivating, vibrant and bold treat your television is about to display. Open Season 2 releases on the Blu-ray format with an eye-popping 1080P AVC MPEG-4 video encode and a 1.78:1 aspect ratio presentation. This Blu-ray gives new meaning to the word three-dimensional pop. The characters were unbelievably separated from their environments in the utmost of clarity and detail. The textures were divine with the intricacy that went into the environments and characters such as fur, rocks, clothing, roads and more. I think you get the picture. Although the animation style differed slightly from the likes of Pixar movies, I could not find one complaint to make even after a subsequent viewing of this film. This is my first 5-star video rating ever for a Sony release. Good job Sony!
Audio
Open Season 2 hits the Blu-ray format with a feature Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround track. The dialogue is always loud, clear and prominent throughout the entire mix. That is a big plus for me. The soundtrack was a loud one. I have no complaints there either. The musical score was mixed in well as were little ambient effects here and there within the rear channels. This brings me to my only complaint. Unlike Pixar and Disney films, I think Open Season 2 could have benefited just a little more by increased rear channel utilization. However, this is a hardly a deal breaker here. The surround track, although not a perfect 5-star like the video, is definitely one not to be reckoned with and is intended to be heard loud. A little more activity in the rears is the only complaint I have to make. Another great job by Sony!
Special Features 
The fun doesn’t stop with the movie itself…oh no…Sony has a few more treats for us in the special features department. And get this…they are all, for the most part, in glorious High-Definition! The only downfall is there isn’t much material to go around, but let’s rejoice in the fact that we are not subjected to Standard-Definition garbage. Take a moment to review all the bonus materials, found below, that Sony provided us on the Blu-ray version of Open Season 2.
- Wacky Weenie Arcade – The “Wacky Weenie Arcade” features five carnival-style games for kids to enjoy. We are treated to Elliot’s “Go Fetch!” (a Frisbee catch game), “Track That Treat” (a magic shell game), “Fix that ‘Do” (a doggie glam-up activity game), “Boog’s Waterslide Maze Craze” (a game where you navigate your way through a wild waterslide), “Doggie Strength Test” (a ‘ring that bell’ sort of style) and “Save Mr. Weenie!” (a Frogger-style game, where Boog and Elliot must cross busy streets avoiding hunters, speeding traffic and innocent pedestrians).
- Going WILD! With the Voice Cast of Open Season 2 (HD) – Here we have a 14-minute featurette on the comical voice cast of Open Season 2.
- How to Draw Your Favorite Characters: Boog, Elliot & Fifi (HD) – Storyboard artist Sean Allen shows kids how to draw their favorite characters in this 18-minute featurette.
- Deleted Scenes (SD) – There are 3 deleted scenes (“Forever and Ever,” “Reilly’s Family Tree” and “Bald Spot”) that are not fully rendered and appear more like sketches.
- Music Video (HD) – The music video is like a 3-minute Open Season 2 cast mockery of the song “Who Let The Dogs Out.”
- BD-Live – There is BD-Live functionality on the Blu-ray disc of Open Season 2, but at the time of this writing there is nothing to unveil. All BD-Live functionality for Open Season 2, as stipulated from the press release by Sony, will be live on the servers for its release date, January 27, 2009.
- Previews (HD) – There are High-Definition trailers for Open Season, Surf’s Up, Monster House, The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep, Zathura: A Space Adventure and Daddy Day Care.
Final Thoughts
All in all, I really can’t say enough good things about this zany animated adventure. It is a short feature film that both the kids and the parents can enjoy watching together. You don’t see too many family films of this caliber anymore. Despite my initial reaction of wanting nothing to do with the review of Open Season 2, I went in with an “open” mind and I was pleasantly surprised how much I liked it. It is not going to win any fancy awards, but hopefully this Blu-ray release will win a spot in your heart. Let’s recap…you have exceptional reference quality video and amazing soundtrack and a handful of special features to keep your kids busy for hours. What is not to like about this release. It is with no qualms that I highly recommend a purchase of this Blu-ray release of Open Season 2. I think parents, dog lovers and children alike will fall in love with Elliot, Boog, Mr. Weenie and the rest of the gang. This one gets my two-thumbs up personal recommendation for the whole family to enjoy.
I hope you enjoyed my review of Sony’s Open Season 2 Blu-ray release. Please feel free to share your thoughts and comments below. I look forward to receiving feedback from my readers.
Open Season 2 will be released on Blu-ray January 27, 2009. If you like what you read in the review above, then please show your support for our site by clicking the shopping cart link above to order and save with Amazon’s Everyday Lowest Price Guarantee. Thanks for your support!
