Balto III: Wings of
Change
2004
D: Phil Weinstein
**********
Pros: Decent Animation, Some good subversions
Cons: Flawed Script
After
Balto’s (Maurice LaMarche) adventure with his daughter in Balto II: Wolf Quest, a second direct-to-video sequel was made
focusing on the relationship between him and one of his sons, Kodi (Sean Astin,
who apparently wanted some light duty after Lord
of the Rings). This movie has some
major flaws with its premise and plot, particularly its inciting action.
After a nice
and appropriately old-fashioned Universal Logo (right after the modern logo for
some reason) and a crudely fonted opening credits sequence (in which Rosie
makes a silent cameo), The film begins by establishing that Kodi is a sled dog
for the Post Office, delivering mail between Nome and White Mountain, where a
gluttonous Basset Hound named Dipsy (Kathy Najimy) and a panicky old dog named
Mel (David Paymer) live. They don’t seem
to have much point in this movie, and most of the human characters aren’t even
worth mentioning to me since they’re all voiced by people who already have a
part in the movie. The conflict arrives
in the form of a bush plane pilot named Duke (Keith Carradine), who offers his
services to deliver mail for the area.
 |
| And why would you refuse? His plane has a big mustache on it! |
This inspires
the townsfolk to hold an absurd plane vs. sled dog race to see who can deliver
the mail faster. This ignores an
important plot point in the first movie which made it clear that the sled dogs
were a last resort because the weather did permit the life-saving medicine to
be delivered by air. It should be
painfully obvious to everyone that the plane is faster. While the movie sacrifices its believability
to even dignifying such an illogical cliché, it does a commendable job of
deconstructing and subverting it. I
generally dislike this trope mainly because it’s played out in an oddly Luddite
way. Sympathy is always given to the
“old way,” which somehow usually wins in the end. Moreover, technological progress is good,
especially when it can get important tasks done faster and safer. Fortunately, this isn’t the case here. Not only is Balto amazed by the airplane, he
frequently acknowledges that its advantage over sled dogs cannot be denied. The replacement of dogs by modern
transportation is correctly framed by movie as an inevitability. Also, Duke is depicted in a refreshingly
sympathetic light. He’s nice to Balto
(whose heroism he has heard of) and is never framed as an antagonist. Sorry to say this, bronies, but this already
makes the movie better than “The Super Cider Squeezy 6000.”
Kodi and his
fellow mushers Ralph (Bill Fagerbakke), Kirby (Carl Weathers) and Dusty
(Charity James) are understandably worried about the loss of their jobs and see
Duke as an enemy. They pressure Balto
into leading the team despite his protests that it’s a doomed conflict. He reluctantly agrees and begins to worry
that he’ll disappoint his son if they lose.
Considering how Balto saved an entire town of children once, I think he
can afford to blow this asinine contest.
Jenna (Jodi Benson) reassures him by telling him that he doesn’t need to
be a hero to Kodi, just a father. She
sings this because Jodi Benson, like the Winter Soldier, is there to do what
she’s good at and then put back into cryogenic storage until someone needs her
to sing again. Jenna’s advice is very
good advice when Balto hears it, but the movie’s plot ends up forcing him to
ignore it and be a hero anyway.
A major subplot revolves around the fact
that Boris (Charles Fleischer) now has a love interest! He’s approached by a female goose named
Stella (Jean Smart), who begins to aggressively flirt with him. While most of the animals in these movies
lack humanoid structure, her design, with its simulated chest bust and long,
hanging feathers simulating hair, makes her a furry. While at first she seems a bit too sexually
aggressive, she later turns out to be a more sympathetic character. I think we seem to have been programmed into
not trusting women who take an active role in courtship, and the movie may have
used this to subvert expectations. Boris
accepts her advances but is evasive whenever the subject of flying comes up
because of this his crippling acrophobia.
As a result he starts lying compulsively to her about it. That’s okay, Boris, it’s perfectly fine to
actively withhold important and relevant information from a potential lover.
Rantasmo said so. It soon becomes
apparent that he’s the one who’s mistreating her. He’s fully entertaining her advances but he’s
the one that’s being the true asshole in this situation. She seems fully honest in her opinions and
her feelings about him. She even goes
through the trouble of making a sultry song and dance number for him. The least he could do is conquer his fear or
come clean to her. Eventually, Stella
finds out about his dishonesty when Boris brazenly brags to Balto about his
fooling her without realizing she’s right there. She angrily yells and chases him, and the
hilarious thing is scene is that this whole thing is happening right in front
of a large group of humans.
 |
| Nobody questions this. |
In the commotion, Boris is accidentally stuffed into a
mail bag, which is loaded into the plane by the somehow oblivious humans.
The race ends with the sled dogs
“victorious” because the mustache plane has mysteriously disappeared. Balto seems to be the only one aware that
there is something wrong with this picture.
I might ask why the humans in
this movie have yet to notice or do anything about this, but then again I’m not
too surprised considering that they can somehow handle mail bags with live geese inside them without noticing. Balto is the only smart character in this
movie. His suspicions are confirmed when
Muk and Luk (Kevin Schon) run to him and Jenna, ranting about how they were
“attacked” by a loud, flying monster, which Balto and Jenna immediately realize
is a crashed plane. He immediately
appeals to Kodi and Co. for help, but they are shockingly cold to the news that
a human being may have died and refuse to help “the enemy.” This is jarring coming from someone who is
supposedly a sympathetic character, but it’s not like it’s framed incorrectly. The movie knows how reprehensible Kodi’s
reaction is, and he is rightfully called out on it by his parents. On his way to help, Balto is approached by
Stella, who’s wondering where Boris is.
She’s immediately concerned when informed of the plane because she knows
that he was on it. So now Balto, Stella,
Muk and Luk go into the wild to save the two characters, because Jenna never
gets to do anything.
They face
many natural obstacles along the way, including the two most irritating and
pointless characters in the whole movie.
They’re attacked by an aggressive moose (Maurice LaMarche) who is a
painfully lame parody of Robert DeNiro.
It’s obviously Squit’s voice from “The Goodfeathers” without the
jokes. Seriously, he just says “You
talkin’ to me” without context to the heroes and attacks them until he gets in
a fight with another moose (LaMarche) who is a lame parody of Joe Pesci. This is a textbook example of how not to do referential humor. The moose are tacked on and they seem like
the closest thing to antagonists in a movie that doesn’t even need any. So it doesn’t help that Codi and Co.
temporarily come off viler for their callousness earlier in the movie. They only thing this scene accomplishes is
that the moose provoked some decent snark from Stella.
Our heroes find the wreckage of the mustache plane
with Boris and Duke, who shouldn’t be alive at this point. Duke was knocked unconscious far too long to
not to have sustained serious, debilitating brain injuries and on top of that
was lying for days completely exposed to the elements. Boris has also lost consciousness in the snow
and was frozen stiff when the group found him.
They got better. While carrying
Duke home in a makeshift sled, Balto encounters his old enemy (no, not Steel,
gravity). Holding on for dear life,
Balto and Duke are saved by a remarkably well-timed rescue by Kodi and Co. They
triumphantly return home, but Boris still has to sort out his issues with
Stella.
Now that Boris’ life is no longer in
danger, Stella takes the time to tell him off for being a lying piece of dirt
before leaving him for good. If that is
where it ended, I would have been quite satisfied. Unfortunately, Boris calls after her by
painfully predictably screaming, “Stella,” and she decides that he’s needy
enough to give a chance. He comes clean
with her and she decides to go out with him after all. Stella got my hopes up as a character, but
ultimately disappointed me. She does
have her likable qualities, but she’s too forgiving of a man who treated her
dreadfully. The movie ends with a
montage showing that the plane eventually replaced the sled dog for male
delivery, and that Duke has renamed his wings after Balto.
Balto III: Wings of Change seems to have
the opposite problem Wolf Quest
had. I personally thought Wolf Quest had a great story marred by
heavy-handed spirituality and an absurd deus
ex machina, while Wings of Change
was a mediocre plot redeemed by some smart subversive elements. This movie may arguably be the weakest of the
series because it’s not nearly as moving as the other two, but I will say that as Direct-to-Video animated sequels go, the Balto sequels are pretty good. The relationship between Balto and his son is
fine, but Kodi was not half the character Aleu was. He spent so much of the movie being
unlikable, and his redemption didn’t seem like enough time was dedicated to
it. The payoff to his arc is one good
deed in the form of a deus ex machina. The animation was okay by direct-to-video
standards, and the voice acting is good overall. Maurice LaMarche is a great voice actor, but
his mimicry of Kevin Bacon’s Balto isn’t as passable in this movie as it was in
the previous one; it comes off a bit low and raspy. There are a lot of characters in this movie
that could have been cut out of the movie altogether with little effect. The dialogue isn’t terribly impressive and
it’s one of the things, along with the plot holes, that makes this movie fun to
riff on. You and your friends can pass
the time yelling or laughing at some of the oblivious things that come out of
the characters’ mouths. The movie is
overall middling at best, but I do appreciate it for subverting a rather
tiresome cliché.
QUOTES
BORIS: Ah! What do you know? I am flying. Ha-haaa! I am
one hot goose!
BALTO: I’m not sure Stella’s gonna see it that way. [Boris
flies by him a foot off the ground]
BALTO: I can’t tell from here how far we need to
backtrack. Stella, can you take a look
around? Bear Rock looks like…a, well,
giant bear.
STELLA: You don’t say.
BALTO: Look, we don’t want any trouble. We’re just passing through.
MOOSE: You talkin’ to me?
BALTO: Our friend is down there and he might be hurt.
MOOSE: You talkin’ to me?
BALTO: We just want to get by.
MOOSE: I just want to know if you’re talkin’ to me.
STELLA: Here’s a newsflash, genius, WE’RE TALKING TO YOU.
[Moose becomes
angry]
BALTO: Please, this is an emergency. We don’t want any trouble.
MOOSE: I think you’re talkin’ to me.
STELLA: Now he gets it.
STELLA: Bye, Boris.
It’s been an education.
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