Yogi Bear is not a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination, but it is not wholly deserving of the hate I have seen it get. When I first saw it advertised, in all honesty Yogi Bear looked like an abomination. I thought that a memorable Hanna-Barbera character in a movie in 3D would not work, the plot line seemed uninteresting and then when I saw that Dan Aykroyd and Justin Timberlake as the cartoon characters that put the final nail in the coffin.

But despite the many reservations I had of Yogi Bear, I still went to see it. And I kind of enjoyed it. That said, it does have a lot of problems, and I'd say some of these problems are quite bad. I am very fond of the Yogi Bear cartoon, and I do think the movie did a serviceable enough job to maintain its spirit. The movie though does have a very predictable and sometimes generic plot line, but in some ways the original cartoon had its predictable spots as did almost all the Hanna Barbera cartoons. The script does have its funny and humorous spots, but along the way there is the odd lame joke and cheesy line complete with some very unoriginal slapstick. Yogi Bear is also too short, and has some very uneven pacing feeling rushed one minute and too slow the next. And I wish I could praise some of the live-action actors, but I can't as a vast majority of the actors are very lacking in charisma and warmth.

However, despite what the advertising suggested, Yogi Bear does look quite decent. The scenery and colours are vibrant and colourful, Yogi and Boo Boo are quite well-modelled and the editing is crisp enough. And the 3D while not exceptional and perhaps not always necessary is nowhere near as bad as I feared. When it comes to any memorable scenes or set pieces, the standout is the white-water rafting ride down the river, which was inspired and visually inventive. The soundtrack is rousing and energetic, there are some dialogue and jokes I enjoyed as most of the banter and chemistry between Yogi and Boo Boo are a joy. The voice work is also better than I thought, Aykroyd's voice takes a while to get used to but he does make an effort and it shows, but Timberlake(who I actually was more worried about) nails Boo Boo.

In conclusion, entertaining but too flawed to make a bigger impression. 6/10 Bethany Cox

Yogi Bear (Dan Aykroyd) lives in Jellystone Park always scheming to nab pic-ka-nik baskets with his side kick Boo Boo (Justin Timberlake). Ranger Smith (Tom Cavanagh) is in charge of keeping the peace. Rachel (Anna Faris) comes in to shoot a documentary. Corrupt Mayor Brown (Andrew Daly) decide to get more money by having the park logged.

The CG Yogi Bear and Boo Boo still has a cartoon feel. Maybe that's a good thing. A too realistic Yogi Bear would probably not fly. But it does make this film little more than an extended cartoon. It doesn't have the feel of something more substantial. To me, Yogi Bear was always funnier as a concept than a cartoon. It's a rather thin concept to base a movie on. Even at 80 minutes long, the movie feels stretched out.

i didn't grow up with Yogi bear (as some of my friends did),so I didn't really have any emotional connection to the movie. And while it is mediocre at best, I feel it does exactly what it aims for. Be fun for the little ones. Nothing more, but nothing less either. of course for adults this does not really offer anything that other kids movies haven't offered before (and mostly in much better fashion).

Anna Farris continues her descent (though I guess some would argue she never was on top, so she might be just doing her usual "schtick"). Don't get me wrong, she is a lovely person (judging from her interviews),but even if this particular role has nothing much to offer, she proves once again, that she couldn't handle a big role anyway.

Still as said above, the movie aims for other things and blaming one person for the movie not being too much fun for adults would be unfair. Watch with kids or grown ups who ... haven't grown up yet ...