In this comedy computer-animated buddy flick, a bear and a buck rough it in the woods together, fighting against nature and a psychotic hunter obsessed with conspiracy theories.

More than ten years have passed since this film was first released in theaters. It wasn’t highly praised by reviewers at the time, and its sequels received more negative reviews. Nevertheless, it’s interesting to compare it to recent and similar fare in the “run-of-the-mill” comedy animation category, like “The Secret Life of Pets.”

The technology of animation has definitely progressed in the past ten years, but the difference isn’t as visible as one would think. Yes, modern animation has more detail and realism, but the improvement is so subtle that most people really wouldn’t notice the difference between “Open Season” and, let’s say, the recent “The Secret Life of Pets” or “Minions.” And all three films show how story, character and writing are more important than any other factor in an animated movie.

I actually laughed more in “Open Season” than I have in many animated movies outside Disney/Pixar. And the story, pitting a civilized bear against an assortment of hostile forest animals, nature and ultimately an army of hunters, was much more engaging than that of the predictable “Pets” or the incoherent “Minions.” If we were to judge by these three movies alone, I could say that standard animated movies have run out of ideas and are repeating the same ones over and over (“Pets” was a rehash of “Toy Story” but with animals, and “Minions” was a spin-off of “Despicable Me” and “Despicable Me 2.) “Open Season” isn’t a great movie, or even a very good one, but it’s an engaging take on the buddy film with lively animation, a suspenseful story, and one of the most entertaining and lethal bad guys to appear in a comedy animated movie.

In most CGI family films, the antagonist usually has some plan to take over the world, exact revenge or defend their turf, and the bad guy (or lady) is not only defeated in the end but sometimes comes around and joins the good guys. In “Open Season,” Shaw the hunter has only one thing in mind—to kill animals for the sheer joy of it, and whatever happens, you know this guy isn’t the change-of-heart type. He’s extremely well-animated and the voice acting by famous actor Gary Sinise is excellent.

The movie is more or less what its producers intended it to be—an amusing ride with some funny jokes and an interesting story. It’s in my almost-recommendable category (65-68%). I don’t put it in my recommended category (70% and above). Though “Open Season” has a number of genuine laughs and a couple of thrilling scenes, a recommendable movie in this category has to have many more laughs and/or thrills than this one (think “Madagascar 3”). Still, if you’re able to see it in 3D and you feel just like chilling out and having some amusement, this movie will probably fit the bill.

Notice that I add the caveat of 3D. When a movie is really good, the 3D actually doesn’t make much of a difference because a great film will drag you into the story and create an illusion of dimensionality better than any 3D can accomplish. But if a movie is mediocre or just OK, then 3D does add another dimension both literally and figuratively speaking. Perhaps 3D can’t make a mediocre movie recommendable, but when the 3D is well-done, it can at least make it watchable. And that is the case with “Open Season.” All the positives that I mentioned—the jokes, the (few) thrills, the great character animation with Shaw the hunter—all those would probably not have been as notable in 2D. The 3D definitely makes the movie more engaging. So my rating of 68% is for the 3D only; I would estimate that I might have given it 62% or so if I had seen it in 2D.

Extra:

• I wouldn’t exactly call this a family movie. It’s somewhat family-friendly, but it has quite a bit of toilet humor and jokes that only adults can (or should) get.