Yogi Bear (2010)

Let me start of by saying-Yogi Bear does not deserve the hate people (including me) have been giving it. I didn’t even bother to see it until I saw it at the library (where I didn’t have to pay anything) one day. I was being reluctant and harsh. Granted, it’s not the next Citizen Kane, but it’s better than most of the CG-animated/live-action films out there for kids today. The film, like most of the films of this type, is based off of a carton, here a Hanna-Barbera one. The film basically follows the plot of the show with some additions and changes, having a national park inhabited by a kleptomaniac bear (and I don’t care what you say, that bear is a kleptomaniac) named Yogi (voiced by Dan Aykroyd), and his associate, Boo-Boo (voiced by Justin Timberlake). Yogi has a desperate need to steal picnic baskets (or as he says, pic-a-nic) for some apparent reason. And there is also Ranger Smith, who tries so hard to make him stop. He doesn’t. And eventually, around the same time that a documentary filmmaker (Anna Farris) comes along and a governor candidate threatens to shut down the park, Yogi finally messes up so much that it gets shut down. The film then gets turned into a clichéd save-the-park storyline, but the film still tends to work. Well, I really shouldn’t say that. The film works for what it is. As a movie that is aimed at kids, that has CG animals interacting with live-action humans, you could do a lot worse (Alvin and the Chipmunks, Hop, Garfield, Scooby-Doo, I could go on for a while). The film sticks true to the cartoon, and while it doesn’t break any new ground, and the film still has the pop music, and the bathroom jokes, it’s decent entertainment. It actually does have some jokes that are very smart and clever, and that took me by surprise. Still, if you want to entertain your kids, you should just have a PIXAR marathon, but you can do worse.
5.5/10