Visually, Open Season 2 looks like the first film. The super-bright, almost watercolor style is very pleasing to the eyes. Everyone from Elliot to Boog and the rest of the characters look right, and like before, the hair is impressive in this movie. The main faults in the film come from the story and the voice-acting.
Where the first movie sported actors like Martin Lawrence and Ashton Kutcher, they have been replaced by people that just don't sound quite right. Boog is now played by Mike Epps and Elliot is voiced by Joel McHale. While the actors seem close, they just aren't quite right. This alone is enough to put off any real fans of the first movie, and the semi-interesting story that goes along with those voices doesn't help at all.
When the movie opens, Elliot is about to get married to Giselle (Jane Krakowski), but when Mr. Weenie (Cody Cameron) is taken away from the wild animals by his family, Elliot uses this as an excuse to put off the ceremony (it seems he has a case of cold hooves). So the gang is off to find Mr. Weenie and free him. Boog, Elliot, Giselle and McSquizzy (Billy Connolly) quickly find him, but a bungled rescue attempt leaves not only Mr. Weenie still trapped in the camper, but now the blue porcupine Buddy is with him.
It seems that Mr. Weenie's family intends to bring him to a pet amusement park, and when he shows up there, he ends up meeting a bunch of old domestic friends who believe he has gone feral. These include a megalomaniac of a poodle named Fifi (Crispin Glover), who has a real beef with anything wild.
While slightly amusing, the story just isn't all that intriguing and very predictable. Maybe kids will enjoy the experience a lot more, but when compared to other CG animal-filled movies like Madagascar, Open Season 2 just doesn't stand up, even on high definition Blu-ray.
At least the film comes with a few special features. There are interviews with the voice actors, a segment about drawing Boog, Elliot and Fifi, as well as a couple of deleted scenes, but quite frankly, unless your kid is a really, really big fan of the original, I wouldn't look into buying this movie. It's definitely a rental at best.
