Let's be realistic.

n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

I'll start with a disclaimer: I'm biased, and I want to like this movie. However, it does fall short in many ways. The first American Tail had this Russian Jewish mouse family that emigrated to America in the East because calamitous reasons. A minor nitpick, but the premise of going West... wouldn't it have been shorter to go across the Pacific instead of circling round the world? This is easily overlooked, though, so moving on: the two biggest shortcomings of this movie are pacing and depth. At times, the movie moves too fast to be emotional, and its transitions are so jarring it's hard to get into it. It lacks the emotional and intellectual depth of the first movie altogether, the former in no small part due to the pacing issues and the latter because its moral is summed up in the standard "belief in oneself" hollow metaphorical cookie. As for the mouse family itself, the movie seems to have forgotten that everyone but the parents are Russian immigrants and Jewish besides. I'd like to know when Fievel stopped being Russian and immediately picked up Western cowboy mannerisms. A little too quick. I don't really care, but another minor nitpick is that the detail of the family being Jewish never pops up again. The animation is very different from the first movie, and it shows. Fievel no longer moves like a drunkard, but now moves like a sharp and witty action hero. There are many sections in which you can tell the animators had fun, at least, but there are some gags that probably don't fit (minor spoiler: dogfish). In short, this movie doesn't feel like the original hardly at all. Its patriotic themes are almost completely absent, being switched out in favour of a Western aesthetic. The returning characters are very different. Tiger is now clumsy in comical fashion (which is only occasionally funny), doesn't quite feel or move like the original. Even Fievel's friends Tony and Bridget are reduced to momentary cameos and play no part in the plot. However, Tanya is given much more character development, which was one of the brightest parts of the movie. Instead of a background character like in the first movie, she became a tritagonist of sorts, likable and memorable. Overall, it's an okay (by which I mean barely passable) movie in its own right. Its musical numbers (one of which is Tanya's) are somewhat memorable, pretty catchy, pleasant to listen to. Its characters are (mostly) okay, the plot is relatively original by American Tail standards. But in general, the movie suffers from being unimaginative and shallow. It inherits a good name and it does well for having these flaws, but it is not something you'll watch very often. Many won't rewatch it at all, most of all if they were hardcore fans of the original. Again, though, standing alone, it is actually not that bad as a movie. And upon further consideration, I will raise the movie a star's rating for its magnificent soundtrack (The Girl You Left Behind, Way Out West, and Rawhide are worthy of honourable mention).

This is a lively adventure. A great family film that everyone should see. The animation is very good filled with lots of movement and speed. the film has both physical and verbal comedy. The best thing about the movie is without a doubt the villain played by John Cleese because it,s well John Cleese anything he's in is going to be a ton of fun. He is a fantastic comedian and actor. John Cleese turned down the role as Cogsworth in Beauty and the Beast to play this role. John Cleese as Cogsworth would have been amazing. But he is great in this movie, and it would not have been half as good without him. Amy Irving is also in the film playing a saloon singer and and her voice fits perfectly. James Stewart is also on hand in his last role as an old sheriff. But even though he is good in the role, his part is relatively small. I could take or leave the cat Tiger played by Dom DeLuise(Robin Hood: Men in Tights ,The Twelve Chairs )His character never did much for me and the subplot with the Indians felt unnecessary.The animation is very good as I said before bringing the old west perfectly to life while also having some good slapstick.All in all a very good family film that both you and your children should see,well made and fun. Also although I have not seen the Swedish dubbing, I'm sure it's very good because it is written and directed by the Queen of animated dubs Doreen Denning who has done many of the best Swedish dubs of animated movies ever. So if you are a Swedish parent, you can feel safe to show the movie to your children. The dubbing is undoubtedly very good

Let me just start by saying I absolutely love "An American Tail", and still consider it one of Don Bluth's better movies. It is dark yes, but it is very poignant and heart warming as well. I never fail to tear up during the song "Somewhere Out There", marvel at the beautiful animation or while the story is admittedly slow it is a beautiful and engrossing one. This sequel is a perfect example of a sequel that is worth watching. In most ways it isn't quite as good as the original, though there are one or two improvements along the way too. It has its flaws, but it is better than the dreadful "Secret of NIMH 2:Timmy To The Rescue" and the mediocre-but-watchable "All Dogs Go To Heaven 2". Also it is one of the better animated sequels out there, and considering how disappointing some of them have been that is saying a lot.My only real problems with the film are that the plot is a little too episodic, and that the film is too short, if anything it could've done with being 5-10 minutes longer. These aside, I liked the fact the story is cheerier and more fast paced. The animation is not that bad at all, it is colourful and well drawn on the whole, and the editing was above decent. Also the musical numbers are very good here. No, not as good as the ones in the original, and even if they did that is an extremely hard task to come by considering how stunning the music in the original was. "Dreams to Dream" says it all, that song alone pretty much equals the greatness of "Somewhere Out There". "The Girl I Left Behind" is another standout I just loved how upbeat it was. And I would also like to remark that I thought the singing was better here than it was in the original. One of the minor flaws I had with the first film was that I did not like Phillip Glasser's singing voice, I just found it whiny and out of tune. Back to the sequel, Cathy Cavadini does a great job both voicing and singing Tanya, and Linda Ronstadt completely blew me away with her rendition of "Dreams to Dream".What made the movie though was the voice acting. There was some truly inspired casting, and all involved did wonderfully. Phillip Glasser is still sweet and likable as Fieval, and Dom DeLuise is absolutely hilarious as Tiger and I loved it that Tiger has more to do here. There is one part when he falls into the sea and he comes eye to eye with a fish, and he says rather flatly "Dogfish". John Cleese clearly relishes his role as the villain Cat R. Waul, a villain I preferred over Warren T.Rat, he could be sinister yet funny as well. But the biggest surprise was Jimmy Stewart as Wylie Burp, Stewart was a great actor, evident in films like "Vertigo", "It's a Wonderful Life" and "Rear Window", all classics in my opinion, and he proves once more how talented he was voicing a smaller but wholly relevant character and making the most of witty and sardonic lines. Overall, while not quite as good as the beautiful original, it is a sequel worth watching and was much better than I thought it would be. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Fievel, the cute little mouse from An American Tail, is going west for Fievel Goes West. This is one of very few sequels that really deserve the title of the original classics. Fievel Goes West may not have as many touching moments as the original, but that's because it's more of a fast-paced western comedy rather than a heartwarming, sometimes tragic tale (tail?) as An American Tail was. A by-product of the comedic approach is the look of the movie. Instead of the dark, dull, forbidding color scheme of the first movie, the sequel is supposed to be bright, funny, and altogether welcoming. Thus, you get bright sunshine (sometimes a bit too bright from the characters' point of view) and varied color. The animation hasn't changed all too much, unlike The Land Before Time's sequels for video. The animation retains a bit of Don Bluth's touch, though still a bit different. Altogether, the animation is just about as good as it could be in 1991. The film as a whole is a gem, but the one thing truly, wonderfully beautiful thing about Fievel Goes West is James Horner's immortal soundtrack. The songs are just as good as An American Tail, which is saying a lot; besides, you have a brutally edited reprise of "Somewhere Out There" from the first film, sung by Tanya. Speaking of Tanya, she's voiced by someone different, presumably to allow for her great singing. For proof, all you need to do is listen to "Dreams To Dream". Great though the aspiring singer is, the end credits rendition of the song by the crazy Lindstradt lady is beautiful. In Fievel Goes West, our title protagonist is lost on the way to Green River, where he will supposedly find a new lease on life with his family and lots of other hopeful mice. But the dream is shattered when Fievel explores the train, and finds a bunch of cats and a huge spider, led by the smooth talking Cat R. Waul, plotting to befriend the mice before turning them into mouse-burgers by means of a mysterious "better mousetrap"! But Fievel is found out, and the spider knocks him off the train, leaving him hopelessly lost in the desert. I thought they might have made up something different, not the whole mouse-gets-lost-must-return-to-family routine. I couldn't help feeling they'd done that before. However, Dom DeLuise returns for a bigger part alongside the legendary canine sheriff Wylie Burp. So, overall, what of this sequel? Well, it certainly does the original justice. Yes, it does lack the heart of the original, but having less heart than An American Tail does in no way mean being heartless. Don Bluth might not have had a hand in this, but Fievel Goes West lives up to Bluth's classic story of a little mouse called Fievel.Animation-9/10; Story-7/10; Plot-7/10; Comedy-8.5/10 = Overall-8/10