wow! it's been a while since my last review, but at least i'm back. and i know this review's super duper fuckin' late, but now that i'm back to doing movie reviews, i'm gonna talk about one of the most hyped straight-to-DVD sequels of 2015 (or THE most hyped, depending on how you look at it). ever since the enormous success of the fourth movie, fans of the franchise (myself included) were really excited for the other sequel, and now that it's finally out for the whole world to see, will this movie be as good and entertaining as we all wanted, or will it disappoint to no end like The Great Wolf Games did? i'm Niko, and this is my long-awaited review for Alpha and Omega: Family Vacation!

Story
Now, one major thing i gotta talk about Family Vacation is that the movie first came out as a made-for-TV movie on March 28, only in Latin America. The story this time around focuses on Kate and Humphrey taking the puppies on their first family vacation together to a place called Alfred Creek Falls. but what was supposed to be a relaxing, good ol' fashioned family vacation turns completely upside down when they're spotted by these two wolf trappers who're relocating wolves to another park. so now, it's up to them to go back home safe and sound and try to avoid getting spotted again. So yea, we all know this by now: there's no big changes to the worldwide version from the Spanish one. they're both the same for the most part. but the worldwide version was better than the Spanish version. let me explain. in the DVD version they actually added new stuff into it, making the movie feel a bit more complete. it moved the plot along better and it didn't have that much of downtime like in the Spanish version. what really caught me off guard is the action scenes. even if they're not nail-biting, they're still surprisingly really intense, and that made the movie a lot more fun than i thought it was gonna be. seriously, when the action kicks up, there were moments in this movie that kept me at the edge of my seat, and i could actually feel my heart racing at one point. i really wanted to see more of the action scenes they gave us in the fourth movie, and luckily they gave us just that. another big surprise in this movie is how funny it was. seriously, i don't remember laughing this much ever since the first movie. now you can argue that some of the jokes are cheesy. and yea some of them are, but most of them are really funny and it makes you use your brain in order to get the joke. that's what most comedy movies don't do these days. usually, it's just stupid slapstick, toilet humor and jokes that only toddlers can laugh at. so i'm really glad they acknowledged that and gave us something that's kinda cheesy, but still really funny. speakin' of which, this movie also made fart jokes funny. that's another achievement. but the best thing about this movie - well at least to me - is something a really good friend of mine on YouTube pointed out: the way they told the story in the eyes of the wolves. like it was mentioned in the concept, Kate, Humphrey and the puppies are trying to get away from two wolf trappers. the way they did was so smart, cause they showed us one thing that happens in real life: animals see humans as a threat whenever humans try to harm them. like i said, that's something animals in real life go through cause humans usually do bad stuff to animals. so i really liked the direction they took with this movie, making it more than your typical road trip movie, and thanks to the good execution, they nailed it. i also liked how they used flashbacks from the other movies to tell the story. okay, they can feel a bit overused some times, but mostly they do have a purpose and they did a really good job of bringing back the best scenes from the other movies (especially the first one). but is the story great? uhhh.... no, not really. even with the great action scenes, hilarious comedy and smart direction they took, the movie still has its problems regarding with the writing and story. first of all, the story itself on paper isn't really that strong. and by that, i mean that it can get predictable at times. like there were a few bits when i was like "Okay, this is when this is gonna happen; okay, this is when this is gonna happen: oh, saw that in the trailer and this is how it'll happen". thanks to that, the movie loses a bit of its freshness and kinda turns into something you've already seen before. and the biggest problem i had with the movie was the ending. like we all know, they didn't wanna change the ending and that kinda bugged me. i'm not saying the ending's completely terrible and that completely ruins the movie, no. i'm just sayin' it felt like a really weak ending. **SPOILER ALERT**it just, it never shows how Humphrey got outta almost getting shot to death, nor does it show what happen to the hunters.**SPOILER ALERT** cause of that, the movie kinda leaves with unanswered questions and it doesn't really feel 100% complete.
even with those 2 problems, you can't deny the way they told the story was a lotta fun and really entertaining to watch, and i really hope they keep that in the other sequels.

Animation
okay, now when the movie was first announced a year, i was kinda worried on how the animation was gonna look like. they had two ways: either keep the good animation from the fourth movie and feel like the original again, or fuck it up and end up with the animation of the third movie. well, i'm happy to say that even if it's not as strong as it was in Alpha and Omega 4, they brought us the good animation back. once again, this movie has fluid animation with nice graphics and that's saying a lot for a straight-to-DVD movie. they did a great job at detailing the backgrounds and making them feel like they're real places, and the scenarios are once again beautiful to look at. the characters have really nice details to them too. like the fur on them feels like real soft animal fur, and they did make they look scruffy and dirty once again, to make them real wolves from wildlife and not well-groomed housepets. so props to them! also, most of the character animation was really solid too for a straight-to-DVD movie. the animals and the humans move realistically and they do act like they were real. and for once in the sequels, we don't see any new remodeled characters. ya see, just like in the fourth movie, the animators are learning from their mistakes of the animation in the first two sequels, and they're taking their time to work harder and bring back the good animation of the original movie. they pulled it off again in this movie, and i'm really happy for that. and you can clearly tell in one of the best scenes in the movie (i won't spoil anything in case you haven't seen the movie, go see it for yourself). that being said, just like the fourth movie, this movie still has its technical problems in terms of animation. like i said before, the animation in this movie isn't as strong as it was in Alpha and Omega 4, and it kinda shows. you can tell that this movie didn't have the same budget of the fourth movie. one of the problems is in one scene where the characters are talking and at point, the mouth just freezes for a split second before the actor can finish his/her line. other problems include background characters randomly freezing (again, just like in the other sequels) and some of the colors looking a bit bland. but beside all that, i'm still happy to see the crew finally getting a chance to learn from the mistakes and stick to the good animation again.

Characters
yea, like we all know: the characters are back and they're still in their lovable selves again. to that point, there's nothing new to say. but what really surprised me about this movie, it's the fact that they focus on Kate and Humphrey. they're the two main characters again and i loved that. they made this franchise, cause hey it won't be Alpha and Omega without them. that'll be be stupid. once, these are great together, their chemistry was awesome, they're a great couple and they prove to be great parents. they also crack up some really funny jokes. they never fail to make me smile. also, Humphrey's a bad ass again in this movie. he'll do whatever it takes to keep his family safe, even if it looks impossible to do. seriously, one of my favorite scenes has to be when he jumps on the trappers, cause from the pissed-off expression he has in his eyes, you're like "Yeah, don't fuck with this dude, or his family". and then there are the puppies. like i've said before about the other sequels, these are some of the best kid characters i seen in a movie in years. they're well developed (especially Runt), they're cute, they're not annoying and they do have a purpose to be in the sequels. and also, from time to time, they can actually crack up funny jokes too. and that made me laugh. how could it not? even if Kate and Humphrey are the main focus, the puppies still get enough screen time for development and that's great. marcel and paddy, getting a lot more screen time in this movie and they're... functional in this movie. they're two of the weakest franchise for me, cause aside from always helping Kate and Humphrey, they don't really do much else. they're just more like comedy relief. they do make me chuckle, but i don't see them as great characters. in this movie, we get Fleet, Brent and the four porcupines back. Fleet's undoubtedly the best one outta the bunch. he's still the likable little kid we got from Alpha and Omega 3. and he's really funny too. i liked the adorable romance between him and Claudette. i mean, it was cute, sweet and hilarious, these two have great chemistry together like Kate and Humphrey and it was good in my book. then, we got the two wolf trappers who're trying to tranquilize the wolves and relocate them to another park (which for some reason is never mentioned). again, like i said in the Story section, i really liked the direction they took with this movie, by showing through a wolf's eyes that humans are harmful. even if these two guys are just guys doing their job, they're seen as the baddies from the point of view of the wolves. i really liked that, so as two wolf trappers relocating wolves, they're both good characters. but as the villains.... ehhh. remember the fourth movie? this isn't a big flaw, but one of the small problems in the fourth movie was the villain. i mean, Head Wolf was menacing and all, but the problem is he never really showed up till' halfway through the movie, so he didn't really have much of a presence or a goal to get to. same things go for these two wolf trappers. they're good as two animal trappers, but as the villains of the movie.... ehh. they could've been better. and yeah, none of the original characters come back. no Lilly, no Garth, no Daria, no Princess. i guess i can say Winston was mentioned like three times in the movie, but i really wanted them to at least make a cameo at the end. but ya know, no such luck.
but even if the two wolf trappers were kinda weak villains and the others never show up, the characters we got from this movie were great and lovable, and they did a great job on holding the movie together.

okay, i admit. i might be too much of a fanboy over this franchise, but why can i not? even if it's not as good as the fourth movie, Alpha and Omega: Family Vacation is still a great movie, with a fun story, good animation, lovable characters, exciting action scenes and great comedy. seriously, this has to be the funniest sequel yet. so, do i recommend this movie? yeah, i do. if you're a Alpha and Omega fan or a fan of movies in general, then check Alpha and Omega: Family Vacation out. i'm so happy to see they're getting better in making these sequels, and i can't wait for the other three sequels. that's why i'm giving this movie a B+.