Stuart Little 3: Call of the Wild (2006)

Lack of good storyline.

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Stuart Little and the family are spending their summer vacation at a Lake Garland cabin. Stuart can't wait to strike out and have an adventure in the woods, but everybody is against it. Then Brooke tells them that there is a Beast in the woods, and he likes to eat cats. The creatures of the forest all cower at the feet of the Beast. Stuart befriends a skunk named Reeko (Wayne Brady) as he seeks adventures in the woods.This is just a shadow of its past. There is nothing left other than a poorly drawn computer animated straight to video movie. At least most of the actors return to voice their characters. But it's really not watchable for adult. This is strictly cheap entertainment for the very young set.

The first film based on the popular book by E.B. White was good fun, the second film was okay, and you would expect the third film to be the same concept, live action and computer animation combined, but no, the makers opted to go straight to DVD and just have it all animated. Basically it is the summer time and school is out for Stuart Little (Michael J. Fox), the white mouse adopted adopted into the (human) Little family, and he and his brother George (Corey Padnos) are going near Lake Garland to a lakeside cabin to spend a vacation and join the "Lake Scouts". Troopmaster Bickle (Peter MacNicol) is obviously a little inexperienced, so Stuart and George's father Frederick (Hugh Laurie) assists him teaching the kids the various outdoor and survival skills, while Mrs. Eleanor Little (Geena Davis) tries to mend the old cabin. Stuart being small obviously struggles to keep up with George and the other scouts, and getting lost in the woods he makes friends with a skunk named Reeko (Wayne Brady), who has been getting on the nerves of the creature feared by the other woodland creatures, the Beast, who demands food from them. To satisfy the Beast and give himself some time to get away Reeko, being a good liar convinces the Little's family cat Snowbell (Kevin Schon) that he is a guest of a big party with the animals, but of course he is being led into a trap to become a meal for the Beast (Candyman's Virginia Madsen), who turns out to be a lioness. Stuart being brave and having learnt all he needs from the scouts is the only one who can save Snowbell, and Reeko feeling great guilt and confessing his mistake helps him, and in the end the Beast is captured and taken back to the zoo, and the Littles return home after an interesting vacation. Also starring Sophia Paden as Bunny, Rino Romano as Monty and Tara Strong as Brooke. It is good Fox, Laurie and Davis returned to their parts, but Nathan Lane and Jonathan Lipnicki are missing, but it doesn't matter as the story is very predictable, the computer animation is rubbish and looks like a cheap video game or something, and the family feel has lost any previous charm, do not bother with this terrible animated fantasy adventure. Pretty poor!

Having thoroughly enjoyed the first two films, I was looking forward to Stuart Little 3. Sadly though, in my opinion it was rather charmless and very disappointing. The only reasons why I did't rate it any lower are the sweet and memorable music and the voice acting, Stuart is still appealing, Kevin Schon is not as good as Nathan Lane but is nonetheless good as Snowbell and Geena Davis and Hugh Laurie are excellent. However, the lip movements are barely in sync with the voices and the animation has a rough and unfinished quality to it. The script is weak, with the more poignant moments(or moments that strived to be that rather) rather over-sentimental and the jokes due to poor timing falling flat, and the story is rather bland and thin and doesn't come close to the charm and heart the first two movies have. Stuart still appeals and Snowbell is okay, but the other characters don't have the same sparkle and are perhaps underused as a result. Overall, charmless and disappointing. 3/10 Bethany Cox

Consider the wolves, reduced to mere caricatures of evil, in Disney's Beauty and the Beast. Consider the leopard from Disney's animated Tarzan, who was simply trying to survive. Consider the hyenas of The Lion King; science tells us that hyenas are successful hunters and caring parents within their pack, and yet here they've been reduced to stereotype; mangy, miserable poachers.Now comes "The Beast" of Stuart Little 3. Her habitat is shrinking, her food has fled the encroachment of human civilization, her forests either destroyed or filled with the sounds and smells of ATVs and chainsaws. She herself has probably been hunted, running for her life from baying dogs and humans who only want to destroy her because she would look good on a wall.But even through all this, she is less of a carnivore than her real-world cousins would be. She offers her potential prey a way out. Bring her food, and you may live. She may indeed feel some disdain for the "lesser" animals she deals with, but she might be forgiven, considering the life she's lead.Indeed, she could be the tragic hero of this opus. She defends the last vest ages of The Really Wild, while her forest is altered and destroyed to make way for scout camps, roads, condos, subdivisions and strip malls, vanquished tellingly by a mouse who thinks he's human and a cat who has forgotten his catness.Yes, this video is for children, but children learn from what they experience. What are we teaching them? Quietly, I root for The Beast.