Somewhere between slightly and majorly embarrassed to say that, not only did I go see the new dog-walks-home movie A Dog’s Way Home, but I also kind of liked it. Despite the look of the film and the narration from the dog, this is NOT a sequel to A Dog’s Purpose. That’s the one where the dog kept dying and reincarnating into new dogs so that dog could die too… no, A Dog’s Way Home is only about one dog that does not die (spoiler alert). That said, the film did have a trailer to the actual sequel to A Dog’s Purpose (called A Dog’s Journey… where the dog appears to keep dying).
So… a Dog’s Way Home is about a Pit Bull mix puppy in Denver, Colorado… a city with which the film maker’s have an axe to grind. Apparently all Pitt Bulls in city limits must be put down if they are found on the streets. And a Pit Bull is whatever the dog warden says it is (“if it looks like a pit, it’s a pit). So this gives us a stray puppy taken in by a good-hearted VA worker (and his veteran mom played by Ashley Judd) who is threatened by the evil dog catcher (insert villainous music here). The dog is sent to live in another state and then she escapes and makes her way home, having many adventures along the way. Yes, it’s that movie. Again.
The thing is, I think the movie has genuine heart. It can be very moving… not all encounters the dog has are exactly family-friendly and joyful. And the movie wants to say something about war vet (and how dogs can help their PTSD). It is overly cute sometimes and your patience for the movie will depend on how much you can handle the overload. I was ok with it but part of that cuteness is a major ding on the flick as well.
The dog narrates the film with a cutesy wootsie voice (I think by Bryce Dallas Howard). That narration isn’t as insufferable as the narration on some animal (and dinosaur) movies over the past few years… it’s sometimes funy in an Up “SQUIRREL!” sort of way. But you could also tell that the movie was probably filmed without narration in mind because the visual storytelling – and dog acting – works just as well without it. I’d have preferred a non-narrative, more natural version of the flick.
Also, there’s an overuse of CGI in the appearance of Big Kitten… a baby mountain lion the dog meets along the way. It’s not GOOD CGI and the overuse of it, especially when making the cat emote, is pretty bad. Not only does it look offputting up against a real dog’s real dog face, but it’s also trying to be too emotionally human. PLUS there’s a question of whether or not a movie aimed at kids really should be trying to suggest that mountain lions are just big kittens. I mean, mountain lions are real problem in western states that kids should probably be warned to stay away from.
But other than that, the movie is cute and harmless and sometimes impressively dark and sad. I low-key enjoyed it, though I wouldn’t admit it in a crowd of soccer hooligans (for example).
Score: 81