Bears movie review & film summary (2014)

"Bears" also features nearly wall-to-wall voiceover, but this time it comes courtesy of John C. Reilly. His inherently likable, goofy sweetness shines through, making the material, um, bearable, if you will. Having voiced the title character in Disney’s animated hit "Wreck-It Ralph," Reilly has some experience in this arena, and his jokey asides seem less hokey than they might have looked on paper.

Still, the cuddly (and condescending) anthropomorphism persists in the film from co-directors Alastair Fothergill and Keith Scholey, both veterans of this genre—ostensibly to make the characters more relatable for the littlest kids in the audience. (The recent IMAX 3-D documentary "Island of Lemurs: Madagascar" mercifully was free of this narrative approach.)

My movie-savvy 4 ½-year-old son still had a ton of questions, though. During a recent screening, loudly whispered conversations went something like this:
Nicolas: "Mommy, what is the wolf trying to do?"
Me: "He’s trying to eat the bear cubs, baby."

Yes, things get a little dicey for our plucky protagonists in "Bears." Cycle of life, and all. Sunrise, sunset. But nothing nearly so gnarly happens as it did in "African Cats," when a bunch of lionesses tore apart a bloody zebra carcass. The violence here is more fleeting, and mainly intended as a demonstration of the lengths to which the mama bear will go to protect her babies.

"Sky" is the name she’s been given. When we first meet her, she’s snuggling with her fresh, dewy newborns—a boy and a girl named Scout and Amber—in a big, furry ball inside a snow-packed cave in the Alaskan wilderness. (The film doesn’t bother to address who or where the father might be, even though the kids who’ve accompanied you might wonder.) The intimacy of these early moments is quietly disarming; it feels like a great privilege.

But soon they must get up, dig their way out and forage for food. The majority of "Bears" follows the family’s trek from the majestic, snow-covered mountains (where they narrowly miss being pummeled by an awesome avalanche—at least that’s what the editing suggests) down to sea level to fish for salmon. The cubs tumble down hills and tussle with one another. Sky nudges them along. Reilly chimes in with lighthearted commentary.  

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