Brother Bear 2 (2006 Video) User Reviews

Above average sequel to a beautiful first film

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 7 January 2010]

I will admit I was not sure whether I wanted to see this sequel. I am not saying that all Disney sequels are terrible, Aladdin and the King of Thieves, Rescuers Down Under, Simbas's Pride, Enchanted Christmas and Bambi 2 were surprisingly good. However, Cinderella 2 and Jungle Book 2 were below par; both had average animation and a decent voice cast but everything else ranged from mediocre to poor, Cinderella 2 in the music and Jungle Book 2 in the plot.

What were my thoughts on Brother Bear 2 exactly? Well I was surprised. This sequel is above average, and you know what that is quite an achievement. Why do I say that? Well, the first Brother Bear has to be hard to beat in terms of quality. Like another Disney film like Pocahontas, it was visually stunning and I thought the music was awesome. Plus I found the characters engaging and the story heart warming. In fact, despite the flaws the first Brother Bear had, it is beautiful and very underrated.

Back on track, this sequel is inferior in quality to its original, but I admit I wasn't expecting otherwise. The story is a little thin on the ground, and not as well written and heart warming as the one in the first film. Also while there is some humour with the two Moose, the writing isn't quite as inspired. My next problem applies to a lot of the sequels come and gone, it is too short so there isn't quite enough character development.

That said though, a lot does compensate. Well for one thing, the animation is very nicely done. True it isn't as gorgeous or as detailed as the original's animation, but like Bambi 2, Ariel's Beginning and Cinderella 3 it's style is fluid and it is colourful. Some of the beginning scenes especially were like looking at a watercolour painting. Also the soundtrack is very nice, maybe not as catchy as Phil Collin's lively and fun one, that is good as the one he did for Tarzan, but the theme song is beautiful and very memorable. The characters are still likable, if we forgive the fact that Koda isn't quite as adorable anymore, and Nita reminds me in terms of looks of Mulan. And the voice acting is good, Patrick Dempsey is above decent as Kenai, but I do think Joaquin Pheonix put more heart and spirit into the character, and Mandy Moore is surprisingly emotive as Nita. Then like the original, there is some nice messaging.

All in all, not the best sequel there is, but it is above average and definitely worth the look. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Okay for sequel with some surprises

[Alfred_wong · 7/10 · 23 September 2006]

Referring to the first movie, Kenai had lived as a bear for the rest of his life to take care of Koda.

Here comes the story about Kenai and Nita, they are bonded by an amulet that Kenai gave Nita when they were kids. In order to break the spell, Nita must search for Kenai and destroy the amulet. The story ended as Nita and Kenai lived "happyly ever after", you do not even need to guess...

I had to say the story is a bit plain, but one thing I was a bit surprised is the scene that Kenai went to rescue Koda by attacking the village. It seemed that it was a curse to Kenai that in the first film he desperately wanted to hunt down the bear who killed his brother and said that bears are "Monsters". Now he was being hunted by the people and was called a "Monster". I think that what he got through was a penalty for him so as to repay his crime he had done.

Apart from that, The theme song, Feel Just like home, was nice and I enjoy listening to it.

For Disney, I had to say they did put effort on making the sequel, especially for story-writing. The latest sequels were Bambi 2 and Brother bear 2. Both did fine, it seems that they are improving. So, I scored this film 7 / 10.

An average kids movie with above average voice acting.

[stenholmgabriel · 6/10 · 12 February 2019]

This is a sequel to the 2003 Disney movie staring the voices of Joaquin Phoenix and Harold Gould. But neither returns for this movie which picks up some time after the first. This time Kenai ( still a bear) must team up with his old love Nita vicoed in swedish by singer Ana Johnsson to travel to Hokani Falls to break a bound they made as kids. They are joined by the annoying cub Koda. The Only other returning characters are the moose Rutt and Tuke. Neither Kenais brothers nor the old shaman fron the first movie return. Instead we are joined by a host of new characters like a sassy medicine woman., Two female moose and Nita's two aunts all well voiced at least in Swedish which was the language i saw the movie in by the likes Eva Bysing and Babben Larsson. One a famous old time singer and the other a well known comedian. The Medicine woman is particularly amusing.

This movie unlike the first one is a love story. And it's a decent if unremarkable one. Maybe this stems from me not being such a big fan of the original. . So i hade low expectations. So i find this to be about on the same level. If not a little better. The animation is good especially for a Direct to DVD movie

There are no big twists or turns. But it's not a bad plot. As love stories go it's a good one for kids and it's not too stupid for adults. One good scene is between Nita and her father voiced by Nikolas Falk from the swedish tv show Tre kronor. The songs are nice if nothing special. No characters sing just like the first movie instead it's inspirational pop tunes played over the scenes. All sung by Ana Johnsson , who has a great voice !

The moose could have been funnier. But on the bright side they could have also been a lot more annoying.

And speaking of annoying Koda actually becomes likable in the end when he makes a really selfless offer. Of course the offer isn't taken. But it's a nice gesture and it woerks out fin in the end. Although i think you could have included some more characters from the first movie at the end wedding scene.

The end is also a bit silly with the bears as guests stading side by side with humans and the raccoon is really nasty and mean spirited before suddenly at the end celebrating the wedding with the others like they somehow became friends off screen. But those are the big flaws.

Overall it's a good kids movie. But not a spectacular one with above average swedish voice acting and good animation. But not a classic.

Fun fact: Eva Bysing who does a voice in this movie played Velma Kelly in thee Orginal Swedis hproduction of Chicago. A role played on broadway by Hispanic star Chita Rivera who gott a Lifetime Achievement award from the Tonys in 2018 and a Kennedy Center Honors award in December 2002. That's quite big shoes to fill.

5,5 of 10

I loved brother bear two

[angel_girl63 · 14 June 2007]

I found Brother Bear Two and inspirational and beautiful movie. What I was able to reap from the movie was that through adversity and many obstacles true love, be it the love of a family or the love of another in this case a bear to human that our own spirit will direct us. Their heart are intrinsically linked the movie shows that thought we all have difficulty it can be overcome. I absolutely loved the music it was inspirational also. Melissa Etherage is wonderful and her music was outstanding. I'm afraid that some were expecting the movie to be really funny and not expecting a heartfelt message. I'm truly sorry if they were disappointed. Personally I love the movie and rate it 10 of 10

A mostly mediocre direct-to-video sequel, though it gets better towards the end

[Beta_Gallinger · 6/10 · 2 June 2010]

"Brother Bear", released in 2003, is not one of the most popular Disney animated features, but like a number of the more popular ones, it did get the direct-to-video sequel treatment. "Brother Bear 2" was released in 2006. I saw the original for the first time just last month, nearly seven years after its release, and certainly didn't like it as much as some clearly do, but thought it was pretty good nonetheless. These Disney direct-to-video sequels aren't usually that good, and I figured this one would be no exception. Even though this one is more popular than some of the others, it didn't quite surpass my expectations. For the most part, I thought it was simply mediocre, with occasional funny moments, but also found that it got slightly better towards the end, so I thought it was still better than "Home on the Range".

Kenai now lives happily as a bear with his orphaned foster brother cub, Koda. Winter is almost over, and the bears have just awoken from hibernation. On their way to Crowberry Ridge to get berries, Kenai and Koda stop to sleep, and Kenai has a dream about Nita, a childhood friend of his, and it is then obvious that he is haunted by his memories of her. Meanwhile, Nita is about to get married, but the wedding is interrupted by the Spirits, who make it clear that they do not approve! When they were children, Kenai gave Nita an amulet, and she will not be able to marry somebody else unless she makes it to Hokani Falls in time for the vernal equinox and burns the amulet, and Kenai has to go with her. Innoko, the "sha-woman," puts Nita under a spell so she can communicate with bears, and Nita goes out to find Kenai and begin the trek to Hokani Falls. Along the way, the three of them (Kenai, Nita, and Koda) face more than one problem.

When I started watching this sequel, I already didn't find it very interesting, but knew this could change as the film went along. I didn't care much for the Nita character and the voice acting provided for her by Mandy Moore. The humour in "Brother Bear 2" usually doesn't work so well. Innoko, voiced by Wanda Sykes, is clearly supposed to be funny, but isn't, and basically, the same goes for Aunt Siqiniq and Aunt Taqqiq. Also Koda is once again pretty lame as a comic relief, and there are some poor lines in the film, such as Nita's comment when she sees Kenai as a bear for the first time. Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas returned to play Rutt and Tuke, the moose brothers based on the two actors' iconic "SCTV" alter egos, Bob and Doug McKenzie. If it weren't for them, the humour in this movie would generally miss the mark. The animation in this sequel is like that in the original "Brother Bear", pretty good, but not great. I also didn't find the adventure very entertaining for the most part. Towards the end, I found that there are some exciting and touching moments, which is what makes it slightly better at this point, and this is why I'm giving the film a 6/10 instead of a 5. So, "Brother Bear 2" may be entertaining for many kids and some adults as well, but unsurprisingly, like probably most of these direct-to-video sequels, I wouldn't call it a must-see.

A cute follow up to the 2003 underrated Disney classic of the same name

[lisafordeay · 6/10 · 26 February 2014]

Brother Bear 2 is a follow up to the 2003 animated classic of the same name that starred Joaquin Phoenix as the voice of Kenai a hunter who got transformed into a bear following the death of his brother that got killed by a bear and as revenge he transformed into a bear as punishment

This time however Phoenix didn't reprise his role so Grey's Anatomy Star and Enchanted actor Patrick Dempsey took over from Phoenix as the voice of Kenai. The story is about Kenai(Dempsey)and Koda(Suaze)who team up together to help an old friend of Kenai's called Nita(voiced by yup I will give you a clue she is an ex pop princess from the late 1990s and now she is the voice of Rapunzel from Tangled,any ideas well its Mandy Moore) who has to destroy an amulet so that she can get married. So together Nita,Kenai and Koda have to travel to go up some mountain where Nita has to destroy the amulet like I have mentioned before. But will Nita change her mind and does she have feelings for Kenai and will Kenai turn back into a human again?

Overall I enjoyed this sequel. Its not a patch to the original as some of the charcthers from the first movie aren't in it and the original voice for Kenai wasn't in it either. So what did I like about it,for starters the animation is vivid and beautiful I love the traditional animation like when it was in the 1990s and before Disney went down the Pixar route. Also I like the charcthers too yet Nita kinda reminds me of Lilo's sister meets Pocahontas with Rapunzel's voice added along the mix(I will talk about the voice acting in a minute). Now to the not so good yet I didn't mind was the voice acting. Patrick Dempsey is a very underrated actor who stars in A lot of mediocre films(except Enchanted he was really good in that movie)here his voice isn't a patch compare to Joaquin's who was alot better as Kenai in my opinion. Also Mandy Moore,I know im a big fan of her's since 1999,but here I couldn't get into her charcther instead all I could think of was Rapunzel from Tangled(which she did 4 years later after this movie). I dunno maybe its because im so used to hearing her voice in Tangled and not here,but still she has a very childlike presence about her and her voice is very youthful and not oldish.

But still Brother Bear II is a great movie to watch and my advice is to watch the original first before seeing this one. I got this along with the first one last week for a great bargain and I was glad I bought it as it had a cute finale for the final part of the movie. Will there be a 3rd Brother Bear movie? Hardly but still it was a cute movie.

6 out of 10.

It works, but just bearly.

[Konedima · 6/10 · 8 November 2007]

Let me just make this clear from the start: I love the original Brother Bear, but as a rule I despise direct-to-video sequels (there are exceptions though). To put it simply... I went into this not expecting much, but I wished I was wrong. And I'll warn you... if you don't like being sequels being reviewed solely compared to the original, you probably won't like my review.

Story: I've read reviews saying that the original's basic story was copied from other movies... I never saw that. This, however, is your general "we think there's a writers strike on right now" copied story. Not a blatant rip-off of anything in particular, but its been done before.

Writing: To be honest, this probably disappointed me the most. While the original was deep and meaningful (or at least as can be for whats supposed to be a kids movie), this relies on a lot of cheap humour, particularly at the start. It levels off, but it never reaches the quality what was in the original. I'm probably one of the few who don't like Rutt and Tuke, although they didn't seem as bad this time around (probably because they had less time on screen and more to do, so less time to waste).

Art/Animation: This was probably the part which disappointed me the least. While it's more than adequate (its pretty good) it just doesn't have the same flair as the original did (or some of the fancier effects). Other than that, no major complaints.

Acting: With most of the returning characters are voiced by their original actors, Kenai's recasting stands out. Don't get me wrong, its not too bad... it's just not the same. Everyone else does a decent job though.

Music: Obviously no Phil Collins music this time around. I'm not quite sure who does the music in this (nobody immediately recognisable) and while the music is appropriate and fits in well, there's nothing memorable like "No Way Out" was for me.

Closing comments: It might not sound like much, but this movie ends up to be more than the sum of its parts (not much though). I don't accept it as a sequel up to the standards of the original Brother Bear, by its own merits, it's a decent movie. I do think it's worth buying, but I'd have no problem recommending it as a rental (especially if you're a fan of the original). Just don't go in expecting too much, and you won't be disappointed.

This just doesn't compete with the original.

[ZMS_ZMS · 2/10 · 15 November 2020]

The first film is probably my favourite Disney film of all time.

This film feels tacky. The voice acting is excellent but the storyline is lacking and relies too much on humour. The animation / art-style is not as good as the first Brother Bear film. Characters are heavily "cartoony" in a slapstick sort of way; it's as though this whole film was animated the same way as Rutt and Tuke, which simply doesn't reflect the characters.

The lack of Joaquin Phoenix as the lead character takes alot away from this film. Not to say that Patrick Dempsey did a poor job, rather he is not Joaquin but playing a role his role; it doesn't work for me.

The story is dry and just overall boring.

Sound track is okay, kinda folksy though and obviously doesn't compare to Phil Collins's of the first.

A better bear?

[martylee13045burlsink342 · 8/10 · 23 August 2015]

I loved "Brother Bear" back during it's theatrical run in 2003...and thought that it should have been recognized as a high water mark in hand drawn animated films...and I was deeply saddened when it failed to find a huge audience...and became one of the last masterworks of the art...( which was replaced in audience favor by often lumpy, clunky, and distressingly flat and "realistic" computer generated cartoons.

I was very upset that line drawn was shoved aside and forgotten except for low quality TV animation...and what looked to be shoddy direct to video sequels...which I initially refused to watch because I feared that these "follow ups" would just be graceless rip offs of the original films.

When I began collecting the original Disney Classics on Blu-Ray (which really IS the best way to appreciate them since they are no longer re-released to theaters) (such a shame)...I ended up with the sequels in my library...and decided that I might as well watch them after re-savoring the original classics.

I was a bit surprised to find that most of them are respectable efforts that might have deserved theatrical release if a bit more polishing had been applied to the writing...and I was pretty much shocked when I watched "Brother Bear 2" and found it to be just as visually stunning as "Brother Bear"...almost as well written...and if anything even more moving thanks to some absolutely lovely songs by Mellisa Etheridge.

Why this was relegated to "Direct to Video" status is beyond me...but it deserves to be re-evaluated and rediscovered as the masterpiece it is...

Brother Bear 2

[studioAT · 7/10 · 3 October 2020]

The original 'Brother Bear' deserves better recognition as a good Disney animated film, so I was looking forward to seeing this straight to DVD sequel.

Now, these tend to be a bit hit and miss, but thankfully this is one of the better ones. There's a lot of heart, there's some lovely messages in there too.

I thought this worked well, I enjoyed it.

From Disney's sequel heap is a movie that's made me lose my sanity

[thesterlingweaver · 1/10 · 22 December 2021]

This is the only movie I've ever watched that's made me lose my sanity, For the first time, I'm disappointed in a Disney sequel, this is definitely on the podium for the worst things I've ever watched, you have to put effort into making this level of sheer awfulness. The animation is decent I guess, but this is still worthless, every single thing about this movie is awful, the music is dumb, and unlike in the first movie where the moose were funny, this time they are annoying, and on this movie, they do the whole "let's add in a villian in the last 15 minutes of the movie". Koda is as irritating as he was in the first movie, kenai's voice actor changed while EVERYONE ELSE had the same one from the last movie, and speaking of which, WHERE TF IS DENAHI, I HAVE NO PROBLEM WITH SITKA NOT BEING HERE CAUSE HES DEAD, BUT DENAHI IS NOT EVEN MENTIONED, NEITHER IS THE SHAMAN FROM THE LAST MOVIE, SO THEY GOT ANOTHER SHA"WOMEN" TO REPLACE HER FOR NO REASON, and also the ending is SO STUPID, kenai's girlfriend from when he was a child who was not mentioned In the first movie, with no hesitation, turns herself into a bear somehow and her father isn't concerned AT ALL, and because of how Nita and kenai meet up, the spirits are basically the villian of this movie. And when Nita's assumed husband who's name I don't know, in the climax tries to kill kenai, and Nita says to him, how could you!, HOW WAS HE SUPPOSED TO KNOW WHO THAT WAS, IF I SAW A BEAR, I WOULD HUNT IT DOWN TOO. Overall, this is by far the worst thing to come out of the Disney catalog, this movie was worthless and should not be watched by anyone for any reason at all, regardless if you are one of the 5 people that liked the first one.

A brilliant film, another animated classic from Disney

[animflashdragon · 10/10 · 25 October 2006]

a sequel to an amazing animated movie, so naturally everyone was feeling a little uneasy, I admit, I was too, but now I've seen the film, I am happy to report that it is brilliant.

The plot of this movie seems straightforward, Kenai, fresh from his first winters hibernation, continues to think of his childhood as a human, in particular, Nita, a girl he rescued from falling through the ice when they were young, at which point he gave her an amulet, saying that they would always be friends. As the story follows Kenai and koda at the beginning of the movie, Nita is planning her own wedding, which is abruptly halted by a strike of lightning, and the shaman of the village tells Nita that she and Kenai are already a pair, and the only way to break the bond they share is to go with Kenai to the place where he gave her the amulet (I think its spelt Hokani falls) during the equinox when winter becomes spring, and burn the amulet in the presence of the spirits, only then can she marry.

so naturally this leads to old friends meeting up and a few surprises along the way, which is just as well, because without them, it would be a very short movie, finishing in only around an hour and fifteen minutes, I find the spin offs with the two moose brothers not as annoying as everyone seems to say they are, but if more was said about kenai Koda and Nitas journey instead then I would have preferred the latter.

I have put this film on my PSP and so far I have watched it four times in three days, if you are not already convinced that this is a great film, that is my personal assurance and recommendation to you.

This sequel also looked like it may never come to be, and certainly had some teething troubles, due to the regrettable and unfortunate suicide of Jason Raize, the voice actor for Denahi in the first film, and a real talent, who also did the voice of the adult Simba in the lion king movies for several years.

Despite constant intervention by the two dim-witted moose, and the short run time, this film is a must see, with a great storyline, animation I am in complete awe of, and brilliant music by Grammy winner Melissa Etheridge, who wrote two songs especially for this film.

The only problem now is I want to see more, Disney, if you are reading this, then I would love to see brother bear 3 in the works.

I gave this film a 10/10, and I don't give that elusive score to many, a true classic on par with the fantastic original, lets hope for a third outing

Sequence interesting

[beluboklaban · 6/10 · 21 May 2020]

This animation is a sequence interesting. Have various errors but is good

Not the best, but I was surprised.

[GhostTea · 5/10 · 6 September 2006]

Well, to start off, I adore the original Brother Bear. So, as you can imagine I was a little ticked off when I heard Disney was making yet another one of their trashy sequels. I've seen some, Hunchback of Notre Dame 2 for instance...terrible, absolutely horrifying. And to find out that this might be done with one of my favorite movies was not the greatest piece of news. I decided to see it, actually buy it, encouraged by the positive early reviews it got. I was surprised. It's pretty good, but I have to admit the ending was cheap and easily guessed from the very beginning. I didn't like Nita, and Rutt and Tuke got on my last nerves. If you liked the first Brother Bear you'll like this one. I give this a 5/10.

Disappointing Sequel

[Michael_Elliott · 20 December 2016]

Brother Bear 2 (2006)

** (out of 4)

Kenai and Koda are happily living as bears but soon Kenai has a dream about a girl he knew back when he was human. Soon afterwards that girl, Nita, comes to him. She is about to be married but the spirits warn her about a bad curse if she doesn't take the amulet Kenai gave her to the place he gave it to her and burn it.

BROTHER BEAR came out of nowhere and really shocked me. The film has no reputation and it never gets brought up when people discuss good Disney movies and that's a really shame because the film was very good and deserves a better reputation. I wasn't sure what to expect from this direct-to-video release because these types of films from Disney are a real mixed bag. Sadly, this one here doesn't come anywhere close to matching the original's charm or heart and in the end this just seems like a money grab.

There really wasn't too much that I liked about this film. It's certainly not an awful movie but at the same time everything just seems like a watered down version of the original. The biggest problem is that the story itself just doesn't have too much going for it. I really wish there had been more of an adventure as the two bears and this woman went to the location they were trying to reach. There really wasn't any excitement or drama to be had. I'd even argue that the vocal performances weren't as strong as they needed to be.

BROTHER BEAR 2 thankfully didn't run too long but people should just stick with the original.

A pleasant surprise...

[natashabowiepinky · 6/10 · 21 March 2015]

Yes, I do watch the occasional Disney film. No, I'm not ashamed to admit it. Maybe YOU should be ashamed for being so judgmental now. HARUMPH.

Anyway, this is a Direct-To-Video sequel to perhaps one of the company's lesser known efforts, Brother Bear. This follow-up obviously can't afford Phil Collins on songwriting duty again, and so hires a couple of singers called Melissa Etheridge and Josh Kelley to do a few ditties. And, very nice they are too. The animation as well is a noticeable downgrade from the original, but this is par for the cause with a reduced budget. Joaquin Phoenix doesn't return as Kenai, either, though unless you watched both films back-to-back, you'd be hard pushed to tell the difference.

Where this film REALLY scores though, is the friendship triangle that develops between the former human (now a bear) Kenai, the girl he was SUPPOSED to marry (before his transformation) Nita, and the young cub he adopted in the first movie, Koda. Nita wants to annul the original matrimony arrangement (I mean who'd want to get hitched to an egotistical ursine jerk? Maybe some people... But not in a Disney movie...) so the three go on a journey together to burn some 'ancient amulet' to achieve that goal... Bickering, arguing and eventually bonding all the way.

What follows won't come as a surprise to anyone... (In fact, I knew the ending before viewing. So hard to avoid spoilers these days...) but the camaraderie between the trio is infectious, and their emotional discoveries which erupt during their trek keeps you watching. There is also a couple of comedic moose to be found who are desperate for Kenai's help in obtaining mates (One of them is voiced by Rick Moranis in his last ever role before retiring from acting. WE'LL MISS YA BUDDY!!). Not exactly hilarious, but an okay sidetrack from the main plot on occasion.

Overall, I even prefer it to the first one. GASP!! At around 70 minutes in length, there's bearly (ha ha) any padding, and you can watch it in the morning, and still have enough for Fireman Sam, fingerpainting, and a trip to the park (BECAUSE YOUNG KIDS NEED EXERCISE TOO). Of course, this assumes you're watching it with very small children... I dare say, if you're comfortable in your own status as a masculine male who doesn't put much stock in the opinions of others... It sure beats the heck out of a movie marathon featuring 'the muscles from Brussels'. Gender stereotyping be darned.... 6/10

Brother Bear 2

[CinemaSerf · 6/10 · 1 January 2024]

Now permanently a bear, "Kenai" and best buddy "Koda" are living life to the full but the former still dreams of his first love "Nita". They parted many years ago and the time has now come for her to wed. The spirits are not impressed though. They consider that she and "Kenai" are promised to each other. The only way she can appease their objections is to return to a place where he gave her an amulet, and then burn it! She seeks the pair out and together they journey to that spot, but en route they all have doubts about the best way forward and the young "Koda" fears he may lose his best friend. It's not quite as good as the first film, but it still taps into the spirituality of mankind's relationship with nature as well as humorously taking us on a few lively adventures - especially when her new beau follows and becomes increasingly miffed at what he sees. It moves along quickly and engagingly enough for just over an hour with some traditional looking animation and a fairly amiable, if maybe a little too sentimental, story.

Merits credit

[r96sk · 7/10 · 30 July 2020]

Didn't expect this to be good, and yet it is.

'Brother Bear 2' can feel like a slight retread and it does the overdone Disney romance stuff, it also ends as dissatisfying as the original. With all that noted, it is actually an enjoyable and respectable sequel. The new characters are fun, as the older ones remain just that.

The animation looks similar, leaving equal impressions to the 2003 production. Patrick Dempsey is arguably better as Kenai than Joaquin Phoenix, or at least his voice suits better. The music, as much as I do like Phil Collins' efforts, is definitely improved here in my opinion.

All in all, given all that I've mentioned, it still tallies up lower than the first film. However, it does do some things well and it merits credit for that.

They Shreked Me

[tonyvo-41296 · 4/10 · 13 November 2021]

You cannot make one of the main characters turn into a freakin bear without any foreshadowing. In the first one, Kenai was the bear of love, but Nita has nothing to do with bears. This is honestly the worst thing to happen to humanity. I award this movie no points, and may god have mercy on its soul.

Excellent family film especially with young children

[gavinp-wilson · 9/10 · 28 January 2007]

Disney outperformed itself in this sequel to "Brother Bear".

Most sequels for movies for family viewing usually lack in most departments, but Disney really put the effort into this one.

While the other "User Comment" covers the story line it missed in extolling the virtues of the movie. Some "Brother Bear 2" finer points are:

1. A solid first rate script for a family sequel--bonus points here.

2. A first rate song selection with two new songs from Melissa Etheridge. Her two songs, "Just Feels Like Home" and "It will be Me" are excellent. "It will be Me" is my favorite, and now one or my all time favorites due to its guitar/orchestral music and touching lyrics.

3. The return of the original cast--continuity is important for children. (Many actors deplore 'going back' and covering old ground--actors should consider the benefits and character-building these young minds derive from the casts's continued efforts in such sequels.)

4. The simple illustration of friendship, loyalty, and self-sacrifice--the storyline easily shows the family the importance of keeping these qualities.

If Disney writes another sequel on this Brother Bear theme and keeps the same higher quality, they should find it as well received and loved. While older kids may find the Brother Bear series story lines a bit slow to build, the younger children enjoy its pace, score, storyline, and characters. Brother Bear 2 is very "age appropriate" for their 'under' 8-year-old developing minds.

My young son loves both "Brother Bear" and "Brother Bear 2" as much as other age appropriate animated movies for the younger children such as "Cars", "Ice Age", & "Monster's Inc".

"Brother Bear 2" is a solid '9 out of 10' for its hitting the mark for the family with younger children.

Better than most sequels, but...

[Xemnas4 · 6/10 · 29 February 2008]

I'm not sure why I expected a great sequel, given Disney's recent track record with sequels. I will admit, however, that this one was better than I anticipated.

The first problem was that the original was just too much to compete with. Sequels are always judged based on the original film, and I am convinced that no sequel could compare to the original Brother Bear. The message of love conquering all boundaries was heartfelt and a positive moral for kids who have watched this movie. I has hoped for more comic lines than such a serious feeling sequence of events.

Let's face it: from the very first, we all knew that Nita would choose to become a bear. It was obvious: it's Disney's trademark ending (well, except for the bear part, but the rest is pretty traditional of the movies). Koda, I felt, got fewer and less funny lines than he deserved. Nita was spirited and had an appropriate element of conflict (her fear of water).

One of my biggest issues was Wanda Sykes. I have no problem with her as a comedian, and even as the voice of the skunk in "Over the Hedge", but I felt that another voice option would have served better use for the "sha-woman".

Recently, I heard from a friend that Disney was considering an animated series for the Brother Bear movies. I haven't been able to confirm if that's true, but if it is, I have to wonder if the movie will survive.

Predictable and disappointing

[granadoskathya · 3/10 · 11 September 2016]

I wouldn't recommend watching this movie, it just felt lazily put together and the whole movie was so predictable. You cant really figure out Nita, there's no back story to her except her tie to Kenai and that her mother died. Other than that, her character wasn't developed at all. Koda was ignored most of the time, and although Kenai liked Nita you couldn't really see why he did, and why the 'amulet' had any real meaning to it when it wasn't all that special looking to begin with. Kenai just sorta handed it to her, there wasn't any back story as to why the amulet was special to him, if he made it by hand for her, or if it was his mothers or something. Just seemed like a plain wooden necklace to me. On the first movie there were several characters, that even though they had not much dialogue it made the movie seem much more interesting and funny, but in the sequel there's only Nita, Kenai and Koda,and occasionally the two moose brothers. This movie had nothing emotional about it, and to be honest, I wouldn't watch it again.

A very good contender

[samuelgeorgecollins · 8/10 · 3 July 2021]

When I was younger I'd always prefer to watch the second brother bear to the first there's so much charm and warmness In this movie upon rewatching both brother bears I didn't even notice Joaquin Phoenix was gone in the second there's a lot of bad direct to video sequels and this certainly is not one of them full of soul and made with heart!

Foreshadowing Abound

[view_and_review · 2/10 · 21 March 2021]

Could this movie be more predictable. There was foreshadowing abound in "Brother Bear 2". It takes us back to when Kenai (Patrick Dempsey) was a child and forged a bond with a girl named Nita (Mandy Moore). Fast forwarding about 15 years Nita couldn't marry her betrothed until she broke that bond which required her and Kenai to burn the amulet Kenai gave her. They had to burn it in some special location. As they traveled to the location they rekindled their love for one another which caused angst in Koda (Jeremy Suarez) who felt like he was losing his surrogate big brother Kenai. It was clear a choice was going to have to be made: Kenai would have to become human to marry Nita (thereby abandoning Koda) or Nita would have to become a bear to marry Koda (thereby abandoning her tribe).

Putting aside the creep factor of a woman growing romantic feelings for a bear, this movie was so sappy and trite. In the end Nita chose to become a bear as I totally expected from the beginning. Apparently, it's nothing for indigenous people to give up being human on a whim. Kenai did it in "Brother Bear" and Nita did it in BB2. I fully expect that in BB3 an entire tribe will opt to become bears. How terrible must life be for indigenous people that they'd prefer to be animals? As you can tell I'm tired of seeing people becoming bears. The first time was novel, the second time was lazy.

Lacks like pretty much any of Disney's sequels

[Angels_Review · 3/10 · 5 April 2014]

This is the second movie to the tale of brother bear, and I actually think it picks up well from where the first leaves off even though it seems to downgrade from there. The story turns into a rather big sitcom of a girl and her ex-boyfriend having to learn to deal with each other. Neather of them want to show how much they like the other and yet everyone around them pretty much figures out what is going on.

I feel that Nita is way to much like some other strong Disney characters like Mulan and that makes it hard to see her as another character. I keep seeing her as Mulan and it messes me up, especially when they mess up the stereotype of that sort of character. I don't mean mess it up so it's not a stereotype, I mean mess it up so that it makes no sense. I do have to say that I feel sorry for Koda a lot because he pretty much was forgotten for most of the show when Nita shows up. It's really a sad time and yet, feels really predictable. You have a small child that was pretty much a big part of the first movie only to be brushed aside in the second because a girl shows up. You could say that in that way, its rather real but I say that it just feels forced. Even the ending feels really predictable.

The artwork is as beautiful as the first one though the bears seem to lack slightly. They are way too bright for the world around them that looks a lot more shuttle. Bears are kind of supposed to blend in a little more with there surroundings, not look like they were plastered into it. Sadly, the characters look really Asian instead of cave men or native American and Nita looks a lot like Mulan in that. I just kept wondering if the person that drew Mulan was drawing the people. It just feels strange.

The music is wonderful, giving the feeling of the scene they want to imply. The voices are pretty good, one or two kind of fall short but still work pretty nice. I'm not sure about the old wise woman who sounds Jamaican rather then caveman. Kenai also doesn't sound like how he was before. He sounds more annoyed.

I did enjoy the work but it really did not work well like the first did. So many things seemed to lack that I can't give it a high rating.