Boog (Mike Epps), Elliot (Joel McHale), and the rest of the forest animals are back for yet another adventure. When Boog reaches out to his friends for the annual guys trip, he is rejected. What was more painful was that his best friend Elliot refused to accompany him on the trip. So Boog decides to go on his own and after a night of mischief and eating candy, Boog stumbles upon a circus. When he approached the circus he finds another grizzly named Doug, who trades his spot and promised to return. In the circus Boog meets Alistair (Dana Snyder) a Spanish llama and Ursa (Gina Torres) who he falls in love with. When Boog realizes he the circus is going back to Russia is up to this friends along with Mr. Weenie (Cody Cameron) and the pack of dogs to save Boog and return him to the forest.
Like the last two films Open Season is aimed at one particular audience, children. Not that the majority of animated films aren’t, but a good portion of them attempt to create plots and stories that the majority of people can watch and enjoy. Open Season 3 is a direct to video sequel and well the story hasn’t really evolved from the first title. I don’t feel the story is as fluid and entertaining as other animated films out there. Sure, it features the same silly situations like the previous films, but it’s all with the kids in mind and I’m sure most adults will not enjoy it the same way the little ones will. Although I have to admit, the message of friendship and not knowing what you have until you don’t is done in such a way that it appeals to a younger audience.
Boog and Elliot are back, but without the voices of Ashton Kutcher and Martin Lawrence it seems to have lost some of the comedic feel of Open Season. I have to admit that by the end of the movie I wondered if that was it. The film wasn’t entirely all that funny and it came dangerously close to be a bore. Somehow things just didn’t really fall into place and the sticky situations that we were shown in the first title are nowhere to be found. At the end of the day parents will have the last word, but personally I’d rent fist.
Open Season 3 arrives on Blu-ray with a 1080p MPEG4-AVC encode framed at 1.78:1. Like the previous Open Season releases, part 3 features a very clean digital transfer. Colors are vibrant and vivid. Black levels are well resolved throughout. The picture is clear and pristine throughout. Detailing is excellent and very revealing. There are no real signs of banding or any other issues. Open Season 3 looks almost as expected from an animated film, nothing wrong with the picture, but those who seen the first two titles will instantly see the difference. Good Job Sony.
Open Season 3 arrives on Blu-ray with a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio lossless track. The dialog is clean and clear with great front speaker priority. Music flows through the fronts with great fidelity. Atmospherics and other ambience effects sometimes aren’t really handled properly, but it’s not a problem that comes up throughout the film. There’s some decent LFE support that’s not too loud, but just enough to make it worthwhile. Open Season 3 is not the best track out there, but is certainly worth the time. It is up to par with the video presentation and that’s all we can ask for.
Progression Reel – Take a quick look at how the animation from the storyboards moved to CGI.
Rabbit Splat Mode – Throw rabbits at the screen! This feature allows the viewers to virtually throw food at the screen. This feature was originally included in Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs.
Boog’s Cannon Blast Game
Runaway RV Game
Previews
BD-Live Functionality
Open Season 3 was not as fun or entertaining as I had hoped. The lower budget that the filmmakers used was quickly noticeable, but that does not excuse the end product simply because we know that there are far more films out there working with small budgets and the results are magnificent. I am sure someone will appreciate the film more than I did as it was simply aimed at one particular audience. The Blu-ray features video and audio transfers that are up to the high quality standards that Sony has accustomed us to. My final words of advice are to give it a rent before you think of buying.
