Kattiera Nana I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

ClassyWas Excellent, smart action film.

Doomtomylo a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Rectangular_businessman When I saw the first trailer of "The Great Bear", I thought that the plot seemed interesting and way more original than the usual premises of many other CGI flicks from the recent years. Now that I finally saw it, I think that this movie was a missed opportunity to create a more interesting kind of family film. The premise was good and had a lot of potential to be something much better but the final result isn't particularly good nor memorable. From a technical standpoint, "The Great Bear" has some glaring flaws: Most of the time it looks more like a low-budget video game cutscene rather than a proper film. On the positive side, the characters designs, despite being quite unremarkable, at least are not hideously unappealing (A very common recurrence in many low- budget CGI movies) The only character with a horrible design was the villain, and I know this is going to sound like a petty nitpick, but his ridiculously hairy arms managed to be distracting at certain points of the movie, killing the mood of some serious scenes… Imagine a human character with orangutan arms and the face of the Rasputin version from Don Bluth's Anastasia, and you will have an idea of how grotesque and unappealing his design was.With all that being said, I have to admit that the movie had a neat atmosphere which would have been perfect for a more mature kind of adventure film. I also like the fact that the movie (despite being aimed at kids) didn't shy away to include a certain level of violence and isn't afraid to mention death in the same condescending manner of many other mainstream animated movies.I guess the noticeable lack of gags is one of the reasons some viewers may consider this movie to be "joyless", but I personally think that "The Great Bear" would have been much worse if it tried to shoehorn some forced gags to the story. There are, however, a couple of awkward "cutesy" moments that didn't add very much to the plot but weren't particularly annoying either.The main two kids character were okay. The girl had a somewhat generic "girly" personality, but the boy, despite not being very likable, behaved in a more realistic manner than the stereotypical portrayal of children that is so common to see in media. His characterization wasn't entirely perfect, but it had potential. On the other hand, I found the villain to be generic and forgettable, despite the cruelty and unpleasantness of his actions. Not only his design was awful, his personality was also totally flat, without any interesting element that could differentiate him from the bunch, besides of his horribly hairy arms. And the titular great bear…All I can say that maybe the first trailers gave me the wrong impression, but I was expecting a completely different kind of character. Something a bit less generic, instead of the average "friendly-bear" archetype so common in cartoons. Well, at least he didn't talk and wasn't voiced by some over-hyped celebrity.The whole movie feels like a missed opportunity. Even when the CGI wasn't great, this aspect could have been compensated with a better story and a more solid characterization. Also a better villain without awful orangutan arms would have helped a lot.

erlebird My 27 month old granddaughter does not sit quietly for many movies but this is one she sits and watches the whole movie without moving. She loves it. Every time she asks to play a movie, she wants the Great Bear. She does not find it scary. She views this through Jonathans and Sophies eyes, very innocent and trusting. The parts where the bear got shot did not upset her because Jonathan and Sophie were there to help. There was a positive outcome in the movie. It also I believe portrayed the hunter as not so much mean but not fully understanding because all he thought he was doing was protecting his home and Sophie understood that when she asked the bear to fix the hunters home. I do recommend this movie. Wish I could find another movie that held her attention like this one.

hintonmama We found this wonderful movie on TV and were quite delighted by it. We found the characters appealing and the story enchanting. It wasn't overburdened with special effects and was more like a familiar children's book brought to film. We were left wanting to see more and were sad to see it end. We would recommend this film to any family that enjoys storytelling in the fantasy realm. I can't wait to go buy it so we can watch it again. Thanks to cable TV we got to experience it for the first time. We want to own it so we can watch it multiple times and share it with others. Our ages range from 4 years to 71 years. We watched it as a family and all found it appealing.

Franp Franp This is a Greenpeace tale told by the Brothers Grimm ! Frightening, nearly gore sometimes, and yet targeting children. There is nearly no rest along, nearly no cheerful moments and a constant oppressive atmosphere. Computer graphics are disputable ; the bear is acceptable but humans are sub-standards. Environment is OK but dark as the rest and lacking details. Story is nothing to remember of ; it has been told again and again, following the Disney rules, linear and predictable. Music - but is there any music at all ? Any tune to remember ? Ugly, frightening, dark, sub-quality. Definitively not for children under 10, and, IMHO, probably of low interest to the rest of us.