Aw, look at me, writing another review article because I still haven’t finished that music article. Starting to think I’ll never actually get that one article out, haha.
So, tonight’s reviews will be on the Balto sequels: Balto II: Wolf Quest, and Balto: Wings of Change. As always, spoilers abound! Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Balto II: A Wolf Worth Questing
I was very happy with the overall story. It was lovely to watch Aleu grow into the leader of the pack. The pacing felt stilted at times, but it was still believable. I saw a younger version of myself in her numerous times. In some ways, I’m still discovering who I am!
The animation with the spirit mouse was dazzling, but the rest was… how do I say this. It was definitely watchable. It wasn’t rough on the eyes. But it wasn’t as good as the first Balto. Obviously since this is a direct-to-video (DTV) sequel, it won’t have the same level of quality. And for a DTV release, it was perfectly fine.
My notes that I took immediately after watching contain the line: “Diet Steele is annoying in how much he is just Diet Steele”. I was apparently so annoyed by him I didn’t even refer to him by his proper name, Niju. I think what really sunk his character for me is that he wasn’t multidimensional. All of the other characters have motivations, stories, inner monologues I can imagine. He is just there to move the plot along and be a pain in everyone’s behinds.
It was hard for me to hear, but it sounded like Boris called the bears “Машинка” which, if I’m right, would translate to “cars”. He was definitely flanderised here, but not as badly as he could have been, I suppose.
I didn’t find it believable that Nava went back to form a smaller pack with Niju. Even accepting that Aleu is the new alpha, he wouldn’t leave his pack for a single member. Also, normally when a wolf “gives up” alpha status, they typically do not go back to forming new packs or splintering. It was just weird as someone who has studied wolf behaviour. This is probably a “me” thing.
I did want to say that I really appreciated all the imagery and allegories with the totem poles, spirit animals, and finding your destiny. It was really deep, especially for a DTV release. There was a rich story and a whole developed world here that you don’t always see in media nominally for children. We need more stories like this, and it was really nice to see.
And, it wouldn’t be a Spots review without this one final thing from my original notes: “Wow, humans are always the worst characters.”
I give this one a 3.5/5. Would have easily been a 4/5 with slightly higher production values – I know I’m probably expecting too much, but slightly better animation would have gone a long way.
Balto: Wings of Change
It seems like Balto and Jenna had a second litter, because all the pup flashbacks show multiple grey puppies, and the only grey puppy in their first litter was Aleu. There’s no Wikipedia article on this one, and the Balto wiki claims Kodi is from the same litter as Aleu, so maybe this was just an animation error. It’s a very glaring one though, especially in a third instalment.
I thought it was cute how Balto wanted to chase the plane like how dogs chase cars. Also, I thought it was really interesting to make him dream of flying while Kodi resents the plane. It’s a good way to introduce conflict. I called it quite early – when Balto first walked up to Duke’s plane and Duke pet him – that Balto finally found his perfect person1. The ending with the Balto Flyer was heartwarming; he really did find a human to love!
We need to talk about Stella. Here’s a phrase I never thought I’d type into my computer: “Why is this goose so sexy?” Honestly, her show-tune scene was actually really well produced, but again I ask: why is this goose so sexy? I felt like one of the animators might have been working through some feelings while drawing her, haha.
The song You Don’t Need to Be a Hero was really good. It had a good message. But I’m not sure who it was intended for. At least in my experience, parents aren’t necessarily very attentive when watching DTV films with their children. It isn’t the same experience you get in a theatrical release at any rate. Yet, this song seemed squarely aimed at the fathers in the audience. Noble effort, and again I really support the message – but I can’t see it landing.
The moose chase scene was just weird. It felt like it should be somewhat scary or at least harrowing. After all, lives are on the line! But the Benny Hill music in the background made it feel unserious. I don’t know if this was intentionally de-escalatory, or just confusion on the part of the creators.
Excepting the really odd CGI flowers at the end, the animation felt better in this one than Wolf Quest, so that was a welcome improvement. And the music was also really good. In the end, I feel like the improvements made are probably about equal with the weird things that detracted from it. Alas, that means this one also gets a 3.5/5. Fix the moose chase and I’d consider rounding up to 4/5.
It dawns on me that I didn’t even mention the core plot element of the postal deliveries, the race between the sled dogs and the plane, or even really Kodi other than comparing his desires to Balto’s. This should tell you a lot about how central it really is to the film. They devoted more time to Boris and Stella’s relationship than they did to the dogs.
- And yes, I am intentionally invoking Pound Puppies here. ↩︎