The movie is pretty straightforward fare – there’s a circus performing bear that has a sugar binge through town and gets kicked into the wild. A few side notes appear now and again, but basically afterthoughts to the 90-minute central plotline.

The big battle sequence in the final 1/3 of the film is the reason to watch the whole movie, it’s a bit of food-fight-mixed-with-Braveheart that has some genuinely funny moments you’ll enjoy. But still it lacks the punch and complexity of a Pixar story (A+) and the solid humor and timing of Dreamworks (A-) and often resorts to bodily language humor instead of something humor.

The ending is ultimately unsatisfying, I thought of several alternate endings that would have made a more powerful point then what happens on screen. Maybe the DVD will include one?

Still though, the kids loved it; therefore, so did I. Take the family to the cheap seats or rent it on DVD in a few weeks. B-

JG