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Wolf Quest Review
A film that had a good marked plan, but lost itself along the way



First off, for anybody that has read my says about Wolf Quest, I want to say that I see it in a different way now but my feeling for it as whole is still the same. I saw it today to make this review but then I put on John Carpenter’s The Thing right after it so that I could get that bad empty taste that is Wolf Quest out and to also feel like I didn’t waste 75 min and replace that time. But on to the review.


Where do we start?

Lets start with the feel of movie. Now this might be a first for me, but the atmosphere of the film feels like its totally disconnected from the characters, setting, and story of the movie. I have seen a lot of B-movies and no matter how crazy or strange the story might have been, the film was able to feel like the movie it wanted to be, this is not the case with Wolf Quest. Now this is one of the problems of WQ, when I was watching the film it felt more like I was watching “National Geographic: Showcasing the best of Alaska and a little bit of Canada”, but it just so happens that Balto’s name is in the title and that he’s in the film. Because of this, it makes everything in the film feel out of place and supports nothing in this film. In some way, the atmosphere cuts off from the whole film and becomes something with in itself as if it where a cloud that’s hanging around the characters and following there story. This is the first time in a movie that I have seen this and I do know its because of the elements in the movie that’s its coming off of.


As far as the look and animation of WQ, I don’t mind, you can make a animated film on toilet paper and that’s fine by me, just as long as the story is strong, the characters good, and have a well thought-out idea. Now I and others would have like to see Wolf Quest the way the first Balto was, but Phil Weninstein said “ that DTV films are rush jobs.” If there was one thing that did amazed me be beyond everything else was the back rounds. This might be the first, in which the back rounds where better then the rest of the film. You might even see them as real-life pictures, there that good. There are some 3D effects in there but there’s very little of it and they don’t take your eye away from the great 2D back rounds.


The characters in Wolf Quest where o.k. Maurice LaMarche was a good pick for Balto and because its years later in the world of Balto, it makes sense to have him the way he sounds but he also did his homework in that he keep in mind the way Kevin Bacon did Balto’s voice that give Balto his lone-wolf type tone and as far as acting went, he did fine. But there are some things about Balto in Wolf Quest that I question about. Not only is it why his eyes are white and not yellow, it feels like Balto doesn’t have the force that give him the drive that he had in the first film and don’t say that because he’s old. It seems that he was up & high sprit in Wings of Change. Seeing that Balto wanted to sleep more then anything in the first half of the film made me think “this is not action-Balto, its retirement home-Balto.” Then there’s Aleu, Balto’s daugter who is trying to fine some place that will let her be who & what she is. Aleu was odd, at first she didn’t know what to do and went off to fine the answers she was looking for, by the end of the movie and out of now-where she is this strong born leader. I saw nothing that made a full circle strong character out of Aleu, if anything she was still questioning herself in the end of the film as to who she was, but would only find out after she leads the wolf pack that she has joined. One thing I wish they change would be the sound of Aleu, because she sounds like she hasn’t gone passed puberty. The other characters from the first movie are here but I ask why. They should have not been on the cast list since they make at best, cameo appearances and we all remember what big parts Boris, Jenna and Muk & Luk had in the first movie, so why waste good characters like that? As for the new characters in Wolf Quest they are done well. Not much to say, but the actors did good with there characters (David Carradine, Mark Hamill, Rob Paulsen)


Now we are going to cover the rest.

The story was a great idea, in fact it was the next logical step. To find the wolf sprit that lied with in, the type of story that makes Balto epic. Have Balto & Aleu take this path of self discovery, and find out what makes them who they are. Add on to the fact that this gives a chance to find a little bit of Balto’s past, but not all of it because then you take away one of the things that makes him so endearing. Then you add on these other elements that will make it grand.
Well the thing is, I think the elements and everything around them is what hurt Wolf Quest the most.

Since the atmosphere felt like it had to go and do its own thing, it was up to the elements to fill in that gap. First thing, the magic elements where not made in the way they should have been. I understand why they are there, so that it brings out the wolf in Balto & Aleu, but why did it have to be Native American magic? The only reason that that was pick is because its there with in the surrounding of the story. Since when did Balto have anything in common with Native American elements? I would have like to see a evil Balto that was a representation of his past and he had to fight it in order to fine more of his past, or have a dark monster type character that stands in the way of Balto & Aleu to find the asnwers to there questions. I also feel like the magic was not giving me a fully developed answer, like a magician doing the rabbit in the hat trick, the magician shows us putting the rabbit in the hat and see it disappear, but the magician fails because he can’t bring the rabbit back. The magic elements showed up and did there job, but did they do what they need to do? Did they really bring out Balto & Alue and make them come full circle? Instead of being just mystical things that make us go how/why. Stop right here and think about what I’ve said up to this point. Do you see how the magic elements & the atmosphere make Wolf Quest a mess. Well, imagine it like this: your in the desert and since the feeling of your surrounding has nothing to support it, you feel lost. When you come across something, like the magic elements, it’s the only thing to interact with, you say to our self, “but what is this and what dose it have to with what I’m doing or with anything around here, it just happens to be here.” Which is how I feel about the last half of Wolf Quest, when Balto & Alue come across the wolf pack it seems like there just there. It is a plot point, but what point did it have for Balto & Alue’s reasons,
Especially Balto?

There is something in here that you thought would not be but is, singing. Having songs in a Balto film is like taking up more room then is needed. The first movie didn’t have songs with-in the movie and it was one of the things that made it stand out form others and it gives you more room to add things you would like to have in your story. Phil Weninstein said no to songs, so he tried to put them a talk-a-longs instead. I don’t mind the songs because they don’t take away from the them of the story but still, no songs for Balto with-in the story.


Now we come to the end of the movie, the part that made me sure that I would never see this again. I can understand why others would like it, since its something different. In a way the ending sums up the movie for me. Its like if some one showed you a rare card and then the person says “what’s that” and as soon you look, the person hides the card and you wonder where it is, to the point where you don’t care any more or in the movie’s case it leaves open questions. I came into Wolf Quest because of its interesting ideas, but then saw things that pop here & there that didn’t give me a good full reason why they where interesting. So I find myself not wanting to watch this because after all this stuff I see before me, in the end it all doesn’t add up.


I wish I can go back to tell the film makers to not have made what we see today. Making a sequel to Balto would be like making a sequel to Gone With The Wind, it has to be more then just average. Balto is one of the most stand-out of animated films because it did not do things that you would have seen in movies like it and Balto is still one of the last great animated films to be made in the last 19 years. I understand better why people still have a reason to like Wolf Quest since it was a great idea, but it was gone to waste. To me, the sequels feel more like spin-offs since in the titles there is no part 2 or 3, but I say this because I can only call a Balto 2, Balto 2 when its up to the level of the first.

It was an okay review, though very hard to understand. All you gave were personal accounts and opinions. You didn't touch upon who would like what in the movie at all. To be frank, it's more of an analysis than a review.

one more thing I left out, it seems that when ever some one talks about how good wolf quest is, its two or three things every time. So people, by not talking about everything else, are saying the movie sucks, with out saying a word about it and that goes to show, if you are just talking about a few things in it and not the whole thing, then the film is bad, and thats not a opinion, thats a fact.