Jellystone Park is one of natures' most preserved locations. Year round, families come by to spend time together, unpack a picnic basket, enjoy the scenery and observe the wildlife. Unfortunately for the families, the wildlife is observing back. And they are hungry. Sounds like the beginning of a horror movie, doesn't it? Well, in a way, it is. 

The wildlife of Jellystone Park consists of two bears and a frog-mouthed turtle. These two bears aren't your normal grizzlies. Nope, these two can walk, talk and dress up. Yogi (Dan Aykroyd) is the alpha-bear. The leader. The right-hand bear being Boo Boo (Justin Timberlake). Dressed in a purple bow tie, Boo Boo is much less socially ridiculous as Yogi and gets along with most everyone.  Always constructing ideas on how to steal every picnic basket in sight, Yogi gets on the nerves of most everyone he encounters. Especially Ranger Smith (Tom Cavanagh). Through with the antics Yogi and Boo Boo constantly pull, Ranger Smith has almost lost his mind. And soon, he may lose his park. Mayor Brown (the hilarious Andrew Daly) is planning on tearing the park down to make up for him blowing the towns' budget. Unless Ranger Smith, Yogi, Boo Boo and their friends Ranger Jones (T.J MIller) and animal-activist Rachel (Anna Faris) can raise $30,000 in a week, Jellystone will be gone forever. Can Yogi and Boo Boo stop their antics and save their home? 

It's tough for me to review a movie like Yogi Bear. As a 21 year old, I'm not the chief demographic for this film. Yogi Bear is a family movie and should be reviewed as one. And that's exactly what I will do. However, allow me to get this out of the way: As a film, Yogi Bear is dreadful. Sure, the animation is good and the voice-acting on Aykroyd and Timberlakes' part is fairly great, but the pacing is all wrong. The movie slugs on at an already short runtime of 80 minutes. The laughs are relied on the humor of saying food names instead of words that actually make sense (I.E "Faster than the speed of sandwich, we're going to break the Picnic Basket Barrier!"). Dreadful. The other form of laughter is found in slapstick, which isn't always a loss. Slapstick can be funny when used appropriately and moderately. Director Eric Brevig throws that piece of advice in the trash and uses it whenever possible. Seems like every 5 minutes that Yogi is doing something to hurt himself. This is the curse that most live-action animation films face: Underdog, Cats & Dogs 2, Garfield, etc. Alvin & The Chipmunks is a minor exception as it finds it's own footing in humor and story-telling. But The Squeakquel can burn. 

But back to the family film review: As a children's movie, it's pretty reliable. The animation is sure to keep the little ones wide eyed while the humor will have them repeating lines throughout the drive home. Yogi Bear is a picture that finds a formula and sticks to it. If you and your children are laughing throughout the trailer, the movie itself will be sure to please both you and your little ones.

The 3D is another factor I'm on the fence about. Honestly, the 3D is sub-par. The quality is actually rather fantastic, but the problem lies with not much quantity for the 3D to take effect. There are a number of gimmicks that are forced throughout the movie and take away from the story (or lack there of). This isn't exactly the movies' fault, just the directors'. 3D just isn't necessary for a movie like this one. That, of course, is in the opinion of a middle generation. Children are sure to see popcorn fly at them, turtles hover right in front of their eyes and more and they'll eat up every gimmicky second of it. Is it real 3D? Yes. Is it good 3D? Kind of. But for a kids film, does that really matter?

Following the myriad of other live-action animation movies, Yogi Bear provides good visuals while falling flat with a boring script, lackluster acting and less-than-impressive humor. As a kids movie, Yogi Bear will suffice. As a movie on it's own, Yogi Bear is nowhere near as smart as the average film.