Alpha and Omega 2: A Howl-iday Adventure (2013)

Wonderful character development!

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Made the decision, despite not caring much at all for the first 'Alpha and Omega', to see its follow-ups (yes there is a franchise) out of curiosity and as an enormous fan of animation, would see anything regardless of critical reception. Would see anything to do with Christmas too.Anybody who disliked the first film but wants to see the rest of the franchise to see whether it gets better or not will be shocked to find that 'Alpha and Omega: A Howl-iday Adventure' (the title alone is enough to make anyone dubious) is even worse. One of the worst sequels personally seen to me and proof that 'Alpha and Omega' didn't need a sequel let alone a franchise.Let's start with the animation. The animation wasn't the best in the first film but it had its decent moments. It however is 'Toy Story' compared to the animation quality here, which is not quite Video Brinquedo, Spark Plug Entertainment or 'Foodfight' bad but almost and on the same level as 'The Swan Princess' CGI films. Blocky character designs, almost creepy expressions, very flat colours, a complete lack of fluidity in movement and less than meticulously detailed backgrounds are reminiscent of computer animation and video games in their infancy, something that one does not expect at all for 2013 even for low budget when technology as much as it has.Can say no better for the music either. None of it fits with what's going on, stylistically it feels out of place and out of kilter, it's obtrusive and it's not even good music on its own. The writing is even worse, summing up in one word it's abominable. half-baked ideas and any parts that strive to be funny or poignant instead come across as eye-rollingly cheesy or cloying.Worse are the "funny" jokes and dialogue, which are not funny at all, one groans at some of the wordplay/puns and older audiences who are children at heart whenever seeing animation (like me, one is never too old to appreciate animation and it is not strictly oriented towards kids only) will question the appropriateness of some of it.Story-wise, there is not much of one at all. 'Howl-iday Adventure' is short but feels longer thanks to plodding pacing and thin plotting. There is very little Christmas spirit either, there is no heart or charm and it all feels very mean-spirited. The characters are never engaging, they are either bland or irritating and some of them are completely pointless.Voice acting is weak all round, the first 'Alpha and Omega' at least had Hayden Panettiere giving a pretty good account of herself and Dennis Hopper. There is nobody of that calibre here, some overdo it and some act as if they weren't even trying.Overall, a howlingly bad mess. If the rest of the franchise is like this, 'Alpha and Omega' has potential to be as over-milked as 'The Swan Princess' and 'The Land Before Time' franchises. 1/10 Bethany Cox

This movie is for kids under 8. I enjoyed watching both the parts, but never liked them. I saw this movie because I was desperate for an animation movie so I had no other option but when I decided to watch.I can't say it was a very bad because it is specially made for children, but technically it was too bad, poor quality. Good 3D models, but bad texturing and colour tone.The story as well about a quest which is very very simple. So Recommended to skip it, only if you got have plenty of other choices to pick one rather than this one.✰✰✰½/10

This movie was honestly such a disappointment. I will admit I actually enjoyed the first film and when I saw that there was a sequel, I had to give it a chance. I regret this decision.The sound effects in the film were very low quality. More often than not, you would think they were just random sound files you could pull off any website. But what was worse was the animation! Even amateur animators would shake their head in shame. There were many parts during the film that showed very low quality animation that seemed far from unfinished. Even the length of the movie was a big disappointment. If you exclude the credits, the film was only 40 minutes long. It wasn't even a full length movie! The story line was very obvious and poorly executed. The film overall was poorly executed in every aspect and not worth the time to watch. I wish I hadn't even viewed this one. Such a disappointment.

finally, it's out! after like 3 years of waiting with all these fake rumors floating everywhere, i finally get 2 see the sequel to my all time favorite movie "Alpha and Omega"! i almost lost hope bout it, right till August 1st this year, and oh my god i was SO happy. i mean, it's real! Alpha and Omega 2, the sequel to my all time favorite movie is real. i still can't believe it, and finally i watched it and it was so incredibly amazing. there was no part when i got bored while watching "Alpha and Omega 2", cause i enjoyed it so much.the animation's almost the same with the one used for the Alpha and Omega 1, but this time, it's more realistic cause the characters are detailed better and they're a lot deeper this time. so really, everybody in this movie, they're all likable. i really dug that in the movie and it worked perfectly. and the voice acting was great too. usually when a sequel ends up with a whole new voice cast, it's gonna disappoint to no-end. not "Alpha and Omega 2"! in "Alpha and Omega 2", the actors who play Kate, Humphrey, Lilly, Garth, Tony and Eve sound the exact with the original actors who played em in the first movie. and that's great voice acting right there! even the new actors who played the new characters in the movie did a great job. so big props to them. my only "gripe" bout the movie it's that it's just 45 minutes long, it's kinda short. that bummed me out a tiny bit, i was expecting it to be like 92 minutes long, but it's only 45 minutes and it actually makes me wonder why.but either way, "Alpha and Omega 2" was a fantastic direct-to-DVD sequel, with great voice acting, solid premise, great animation, strong character depth, fantastic score... i can't find anything bad in "Alpha and Omega 2", despite the short run time. and for all of you out there who think "Ehhh, Alpha and Omega 1 sucked, so this is gonna b even worse", check that stuff again cause you're wrong. You might say it's bad, but you're not gonna feel it. so go watch it and admit you liked it.Cause "Alpha and Omega 2: A Howl-iday Adventure" is definitely and absolutely... Awesometacular! The best direct-to-DVD sequel i seen in a really long time! i'm so happy i finally got to see it 10/10