Boonie Bears: Back to Earth (2022)

Well it was tipping down with rain on a Sunday morning, so I thought - let's go see a film. This is all that was on, and though it's not great - it's not dreadful either. A strange, cube-shaped object arrives from outer space and - of course - the first thing we want to do is shoot it down! It crashes into a forest where a group of ecologically-minded beasties live. "Bramble" is a rather clumsy, but well-meaning bear who dreams of being a super-hero. He, quite literally, stumbles upon one of the remnants of the ship - and is soon imbued with a wisdom he never had before. Ice cream! That's the cure, so off he sets to his friend's house for a nice sundae. This is where he encounters the original occupant of the ship "Bobby" - a cat with ninja skills - and he wants to reclaim his knowledge so he can get his spaceship back and find his ancestral civilisation hidden under the Antarctic ice. Meanwhile, also hunting for the bear is the epitome of glamorous evil, who together with her strong but dim-witted husband wants to re-activate a cyclops-like robot that would give her the ultimate power on Earth. It is quite an interesting film this - not least because I am not sure who it is for. The kids at the screening I attended just were not interested; the colourfully gentle aspects in the plot of cuddly bears and other speaking critters didn't seem to resonate with them. For the adults, it does cut a little deeper - there are messages consistent with a narrative that has shades of "Forbidden Planet" (1956) mixed with "The Day the Earth Stood Still" (1951) warning us of the dangers of technological over-expansion and the de-humanising of society. The animation is proficient, there are some lovely visual effects and the messages of teamwork, friendship and loyalty are engagingly, if rather simplistically, delivered in an undoubtedly overlong 100 minutes. It's real drawback is the seriously mediocre voice talent (on the English version). The budget must have been decent, so why not spend a few more shekels on actors who don't just sound like they could be reading out the menu in a restaurant for their next job. It is worth a look, it is at the more cerebral end of children's animations.