If I learned anything from "Open Season," it's that it's no fun being a wild animal. They have to deal with unpleasant elements everyday, such as predators and weather. Once every year, they have to protect themselves from ruthless hunters, each one looking for a new animal head to stuff and mount on the wall. In this case, it's even worse for rabbits. Not only do they have to worry about predators, weather, and hunters, they have to endure daily physical abuse, as well. There are many moments in this film when cute little bunnies are used for unsavory purposes; they're thrown at windows, used as towels, and even thrown at opponents in a game called Bunny Fight. It was darkly humorous at first, but after a while it became disturbing. I couldn't help but wonder if the rabbits were getting some kind of psychological payoff: they take each and every blow without even flinching (come to think of it, they don't even speak). What child would want to watch such unflattering violence, especially when the recipient seems to be enjoying it?
This is but one of many questions I asked myself while watching this movie. It was a somewhat amusing cartoon, but it also seemed tired and worn out, as if it were telling a story that's been told a thousand times before. It can be argued that the same can be said for many other family-friendly films. To some extent, that would be correct: these kinds of stories (cartoons especially) tend to make use of traditional characters and predictable outcomes in order to be more appealing. Most of the time it isn't bothersome, even if the end result can be seen a mile away. However, such flaws are a little too prominent in "Open Season," and that made watching it more of a sedating experience than an exhilarating one.
It tells the story of Boog (Martin Lawrence), a pampered bear who lives with his owner, Beth (Debra Messing) in a remote mountain town. She's an adult scout who trains him to perform in front of a small cheering crowd, which usually involves him sitting an a unicycle. This isn't to say that he finds this degrading. Quite the opposite; he loves the life he's living, especially since it means being well-fed, sleeping on a soft bed every night, and having someone to sing him to sleep ("The Teddy Bear's Picnic" no less). But then his world is turned upside down when he meet Elliot (Ashton Kutcher), whose first seen tied to the hood of a truck, apparently dead. When he comes to, he realizes that he was hit by that same truck, and it resulted in the loss of one of his antlers ("I'm half a doe, half a buck," he says. "I'm a duck!")
After Boog sets Elliot free, he returns to Beth's house in an attempt to free Boog from captivity. The plan backfires; the two are caught after they break into a convenience store and run amok. Things continue to get worse when they meet again at one of Boog's performances. Feeling angry and betrayed for being put in a dangerous situation, Boog lashes out at Elliot. Unfortunately for the crowd, it looks as if an angry bear is ripping a harmless deer to shreds. Such an outburst forces Beth to release Boog back into the wild. For protection, he's placed high in the mountains, away from the dangerous hunting grounds. (It should be noted here that at this point in the story, open season is only two days away.) |
