In theaters

BROTHER BEAR, directed by Aaron Blaise and Robert Walker, written by Steve Bencich, Ron Friedman, Tab Murphy, Lorne Cameron and David Hoselton, 86 minutes, rated G.

The new Walt Disney movie, “Brother Bear,” is that increasing rarity, an animated feature that eschews computer animation in favor of the traditional, hand-painted, 2-D variety. It’s almost a museum piece.

Adhering faithfully to the Disney formula and lifting liberally from a number of its more successful movies – “The Lion King,” “Bambi” and “Pocahontas,” to name a few – the movie is hardly as fresh as Snow White’s laundry. Still, in directors Aaron Blaise and Robert Walker’s hands, it does have its moments, some of which are thrilling and moving.

The opening song by Tina Turner, “Look Through My Eyes, Great Spirits,” is especially strong. It has momentum and power, a welcome reprieve from the rote, indistinguishable songs sandwiched onto the soundtrack by Phil Collins, who does his best to channel Elton John’s work in “The Lion King.”

Set in the Pacific Northwest, the movie takes place thousands of years in the past. There, in a spiritual ceremony set high above a mountaintop aglow with the Northern Lights, young American Indian Kenai (voice of Joaquin Phoenix) is on the verge of receiving what his two older brothers, Sitka (D.B. Sweeney) and Denahi (Jason Raize), have already received before him: a special totem that will mark his transition from boy to man.

Unfortunately for Kenai, the totem he receives is in the shape of a bear, which he dislikes. Worse, he learns from the shaman Tanana (Joan Copeland) that his quest in becoming a man doesn’t involve conquering the world with brute force and machismo, as he’d like, but to find love in all things.

From this, a dramatic series of events ensue: In an effort to prove his manhood, Kenai sets out to kill the mother grizzly bear who killed his brother Denahi. In an unnervingly well-done scene, he succeeds and, almost immediately, is summoned by the Great Spirit and transformed into a bear himself. It’s his journey back to human form that the film follows, with Kenai reluctantly bonding with an orphaned baby bear named Koda (Jeremy Suarez) and, along the way, two loony moose, Rutt (Rick Moranis) and Tuke (Dave Thomas).

This is a looser work than the studio’s last movie, “Finding Nemo,” and it’s meant to be. As such, its story doesn’t feel pressed to compete with the animated detail offered by a supercharged, Pentium-powered chip.

It chooses its moments wisely to fully reveal the power of hand-painted animation, such as in the way the sun dapples unexpectedly upon a face as it moves from shadow or when an avalanche erupts onscreen with devastating success.

Such moments and scenes give “Brother Bear” an identity it otherwise would have lacked, which is perfect since finding one’s identity is exactly what the story is about.

Grade: B

On video and DVD

LEGALLY BLONDE 2: RED, WHITE AND BLONDE, directed by Charles Herman-Wurmfield, written by Eve Ahlert, Dennis Drake and Kate Kondell, 94 minutes, rated PG-13.

There’s a scene in “Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde” when Jimmy Stewart, furious at the sorry state of affairs in Washington, delivers a speech to Congress that proves that one impassioned voice, when raised against the most malignant of forces, can be enough to promote change.

Of course, the scene is from “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” and it’s featured in the film on a hotel television set. Still, thanks to Stewart, the direction “Legally Blonde 2” takes is made early on: This time out, Elle Woods (Reese Witherspoon) will use her Harvard Law degree to morph into Capitol Barbie and promote her own sort of change in Washington: passing a bill that will prohibit cosmetic companies from using laboratory testing on animals.

Since Elle is the sort of woman who makes newborn babies look as if they’ve lived full, complicated lives, she believes this will be a snap. But how will Congress handle her? And when it gets its chance, will it be any match for this pink puff of paprika from Bel-Air?

The first “Legally Blonde” didn’t have the wit of its inspiration, Amy Heckerling’s “Clueless,” nor the bite of Witherspoon’s best film, “Election,” but it did have energy, a few big laughs, clever writing and loads of style.

This time out, sustaining that energy is, like, a major pain for director Charles Herman-Wurmfield, who doesn’t get much help from the script by Eve Ahlert, Dennis Drake and Kate Kondell, too much of which seems like yesterday’s throwaways.

Lucky for Wurmfield that he has Witherspoon and her indefatigable spunk; she gives the film a diverting, buoyant charm. Also lifting the proceedings are Sally Field as a duplicitous congresswoman, Bob Newhart as a well-connected doorman and Jennifer Coolidge as Elle’s faithful beauty operator friend, Paulette Parcelle, a gushy squeeze with a penchant for hot dogs who joins Elle’s Delta Nu pals in proving that beauty, when used properly, apparently connects everything.

Grade: C+

Christopher Smith is the Bangor Daily News film critic. His reviews appear Mondays and Fridays in Style, at 5:30 p.m. Thursdays on WLBZ 2 and WCSH 6, and are archived on RottenTomatoes.com. He can be reached at BDNFilm1@aol.com.

Renting a video or a DVD? NEWS film critic Christopher Smith can help. Below are his grades of recent releases in video stores. Those in bold print are new to video stores this week.

Adam Sandler’s Eight Crazy Nights ? D

A Mighty Wind ? B+

Anger Management ? C-

Bend it Like Beckham ? A-

Bringing Down the House ? B

Charlie’s Angels 2 ? D+

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind ? C

Confidence ? B-

The Core ? B

Daddy Day Care ? D

Down with Love ? C+

Dreamcatcher ? C-

Finding Nemo ? B+

Holes ? B+

Hollywood Homicide ? D-

Hulk ? C-

Identity ? B+

The In-Laws ? C

The Italian Job ? A-

It Runs in the Family ? C+

Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde ? C+

Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers ? A-

The Matrix: Reloaded ? A-

Nowhere in Africa ? A

Owning Mahowny ? B-

Phone Booth ? B

The Pianist ? A+

Punch Drunk Love ? B+

The Quiet American ? A

Raising Victor Vargas ? A

Real Women Have Curves ? A-

The Recruit ? B

Shanghai Knights ? B

2 Fast 2 Furious ? C-

The 25th Hour ? A

28 Days Later ? B+

View from the Top ? C+

Whale Rider ? A-

Willard ? C+

Wrong Turn ? F