Open Season

Former Disney director Roger Allers and ex-Pixar employee Jill Culton leave the Mouse House to helm Sony Pictures Animation’s first feature film. Reminiscent of many movies before it like Madagascar and Over the Hedge, Open Season offers pampered critters a chance to walk on the wide side. Boog (voiced by Martin Lawrence) is a spoiled, 750-pound grizzly bear who lives in a garage in a small mountain town where he is sung a lullaby each night by his soft-hearted owner, Beth (voiced by Debra Messing). However, after a late-night romp in a mini-mart with a one-antlered deer (voiced by Ashton Kutcher), Beth releases the two troublemakers into the mountains to find their inner wild animals. Along the way, they find cuddly creatures that team up with them to fight the blood-thirsty hunters. A handful of writers adapted source material from “In the Bleachers” cartoonists Steve Moore and John Carls to create this been-there, done-that story. On the other hand, the animation is near flawless, and Kutcher’s ode to Eddie Murphy’s Donkey succeeds. There’s even a funny flatulence scene; it all makes this film worth a shot on the big screen.