Air Buddies
Picture:
B- Sound: B- Extras: C Film: C
Awww
Puppies! Here we go again with another
sequel from the makers of such great dog flicks as Air Bud, Air Bud: Golden
Receiver, Air Bud: World Pup, Air Bud: Seventh Inning Fetch, Air Bud: Spikes Back, and now Air Buddies. This 6th installment in the canine
series is cute, cuddly, and a first for the series with the addition of talking
animals. Prior to this film all past
‘Bud’ films only starred one, sporty, not very talkative dog. Buddy has been the top dog for the first five
films (though I am sadly sure it is not the same dog) with owner Josh Framm
caring for the lovable mutt for the first three films, then handing the care of
Buddy over to his little sis Andrea for the next two films, and now it is
Josh’s baby brother’s (Noah) turn to care after not only Buddy, his female
counterpart Molly but now their five pups.
Not too
far into this 80 minute tail wagger of a film both Molly and Buddy are
dognapped and it is up to there little pups to rescue mom and dad. This film’s high jinks are quite reminiscent
of other family friendly movies such as Homeward
Bound, Beethoven 2nd,
and the many others, but maintained its own cute charm. All animals throughout the film can talk,
run, and jump. Each dog possesses their
own unique quirks and personalities, that are if nothing else cute. We see appearances by stars such as Michael
Clarke Duncan (The Green Mile,
reviewed elsewhere on this site) and others.
The Air Bud franchise may
have already bloomed and wilted long ago, but this film remains family
friendly, entertaining to a degree, and has puppies…what more does an audience
want?
The
technicals for this straight to DVD release, as are most Disney DVDs (from
feature film transfers to straight to DVD films), are quite good. The picture is clear and colors are well
balanced in this Anamorphic 1.78 X 1 Widescreen format release, though the
picture has some brightness issues at times almost seeming to glare. The Sound is clean, crisp, but has balance
issues with its Dolby Digital 5.1 Surrounds, but overall nice. The extras are less entertaining than other
recent Disney straight to DVD releases, but may entertain younger viewers. Extras include a bonus video centering on
teaching your dog to be a star (I couldn’t get my dog to do anything but paw),
a featurette entitled ‘Hollywood
Backstage Pass with Air Buddies’
a personal interview with the dogs of the film, Profiles on each dog, and a
Music Video of a song from the film.
Overall, though there are plenty of extras, they fail to capture this
reviewer’s interest.
In the
end, this is a delightful film that will keep rug rats busy for a good hour and
a half with its adorable, talkative canines.
Where this reviewer in good standings can not call this a great film, it
is fun. Just when you thought the Air
Bud series could not find anymore sports we look down to find ourselves a new
band of mischief makers.
- Michael P Dougherty II
