Balto II: Aventura en la tierra de hielo

The adventure of Balto continues with a charming, heart-warming continuation of where the first film left off. I don't think it is as good as the first film, but it is certainly an improvement on previous sequel efforts, is there anyone here who didn't like Cinderella 2 or Secret of NIMH 2? If anything I wish the film was five minutes longer, to me the ending seemed rather abrupt. Balto: Wolf Quest also doesn't have the best story in the world, but the story still is well-paced, and in general well-written, despite some uneven attempts at humour.(Muk and Luk) The script is on the most part touching, and I thought the animation, while not as good as the animation in the first film, was very good, with a lot of symbolism that I thought was most effective on screen. I liked the songs, beautiful melodies, but sometimes overshadowed the story. The film is brought to life by a terrific voice cast, including Little Mermaid's Jodi Benson as Jenna. Boris wasn't as funny here, but Charles Fleischer does a commendable job, he reminded me a bit of John Cleese's Jean Bob in Swan Princess. Lacey Chabert is very spirited as Aleu, a young wolf who yearns to find the truth about herself, and Mark Hamill is suitably nasty as Niju. I thought the actor with the best vocal talents in the movie, was the late David Carradine as Nava, a performance of subtlety and restraint that was admirable. I will confess I was very scared by the three wolverines, with their burning red eyes, their appearance is enough to frighten a very young child. All in all, a charming sequel, not as good as the first film, but I wasn't expecting it to be. I've learnt now that save a couple of exceptions,(Toy Story 2, Home Alone 2 and Garfield 2) none of the sequels I have seen to anything, surpasses the original. 7/10 Bethany Cox.