Open Season: Scared Silly - A Direct-to-Video Sequel That Barely Scares Up Any Fun
This is a continuation of the first “Open Season” movie that feels like a blatant cash grab, released straight to video in the US and most other countries.
One night, Elliot the deer spins a tall tale about a past encounter with a werewolf. The impressionable Boog the bear is so terrified that he refuses to go camping with Elliot the next day. To “fight fire with fire,” Elliot stages a nighttime spectacle to make Boog believe he’s seen and scared off a werewolf. However, events spiral out of control, leading Boog, Elliot, and the other forest creatures to believe a real werewolf is on the loose. The human townsfolk come to the same conclusion, and the sheriff reluctantly allows the obsessed hunter Shaw to return to the woods and capture the beast. Since Shaw secretly plans to “accidentally” shoot Boog and Elliot, the animals decide to find the monster themselves and present it to the humans, hoping to end the hunting season as quickly as possible.
Notably, in all four films of the series, the two main characters are voiced by different actors each time (in the American version). While Martin Lawrence and Ashton Kutcher voiced them in the first film, Donnie Lucas and William Townsend took over in this fourth installment.
A Franchise Running on Fumes
In 2006, Sony Pictures Animation released the full-length animated comedy “Open Season.” Despite being co-directed by Roger Allers, co-director of Disney’s “The Lion King,” “Open Season” barely recouped its production costs and received lukewarm critical reception. Nevertheless, the studio decided to continue the story of the domesticated bear Boog and the wild deer Elliot, and in 2008, “Open Season 2” was released internationally. In America, however, it was only released on video – a clear indication that Sony didn’t expect much from the film. The next film in the series, “Open Season 3,” was released in even fewer countries, and “Open Season: Scared Silly” only made it to theaters in Turkey, Hungary, Romania, Sweden, and Russia. Like its two predecessors, it was released directly to video in the United States.
Essentially, that’s all you need to know about “Scared Silly.” A direct-to-video sequel to a high-budget animated film always represents a noticeable drop in animation quality, script quality, and voice acting. And since “Open Season” was never a “The Incredibles” or “The Lion King” to begin with, this third sequel is only for the most die-hard fans of Boog and Elliot who can’t live without their favorite critters. Even they might find “Scared Silly” disappointing and frustrating.
What Went Wrong?
Why? First, this sequel isn’t a continuation of “Open Season 3,” but rather a follow-up to the very first film in the series. So, there’s no Ursa, no Elliot and Giselle’s offspring, and no other characters introduced in “Open Season 2” and “Open Season 3.” Want to see them again? Re-watch the previous movies.
Second, “Scared Silly” doesn’t introduce any new characters, except for Shaw’s two suddenly appearing Canadian sidekicks, who add absolutely nothing to the plot. And while the two previous “Open Season” films tried to tell new stories about Boog and Elliot, different from their previous adventures, “Scared Silly” once again pits the animals against Shaw, and does so on a much smaller scale than in the first “Open Season.” To put it mildly, the writers and animators didn’t put in much effort, and their laziness is hardly worth rewarding with your money.
Is there anything entertaining about the hunt for a non-existent werewolf? No, the “hunt” boils down to Elliot acting like a complete idiot, endangering his friends’ lives several times, and even tasting poop (this, by the way, isn’t a fleeting joke, but a prolonged, nauseating scene). Essentially, the characters spend the entire movie aimlessly fooling around, and then quickly get rid of Shaw at the end. Such a plot might be acceptable if it were a twenty-minute episode of a TV series, but for a feature-length release, it’s blatant laziness.
The only positive aspect of the film is its non-stop attempts to be funny, but even young children won’t laugh at every forced joke. For adults, there’s absolutely nothing funny in “Scared Silly.” Except, perhaps, the fact that “Open Season” continues to be made, even though its modest artistic potential has long been exhausted.