Sassy in the City
Shadow, Sassy and Chance have now moved to San Francisco with their owners and when they see the cases forming by the door know something is going down. As it turns out the family are going on holiday to Canada and the pets are going with them. Of course things don't go to plan and whilst the family end up on a plane to Canada Shadow, Sassy and Chance end up left behind and all alone in the city when Chance fears the worst and they escape from the Cargo hold. Now they need to work together to deal with the tough street gangs of homeless dogs whilst also avoiding the accident prone dog catchers.
I have mentioned it before but feel a need to mention it again, reviewing movies aimed at a younger audience when you no longer have the innocence and imagination of a child is not easy to do. As a grown up you watch something and think how utterly stupid it is and how could anyone ever see it as good yet all that is stupid and frankly unbelievable is what will keep younger audiences enthralled who probably don't realise that the storyline is as cliche as they come.
With that out of the way with I get to "Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco" a sequel which whilst again family entertainment is really focussed at a young audience. I say this because from a grown ups perspective the whole movie is one 90 minute cliche of these three pets surviving in the big city as they try to make it home. It does have some fun scenes for adults; dogs running riot around the baggage handling area of an airport is amusing but for a family movie the humour is mainly aimed at the younger audience who will enjoy seeing Chance stealing a donut from a plate or causing chaos at a softball game.
But what "Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco" has going for again is the great choice of actors to voice the animals; the returning Michael J. Fox is perfect as the young and boisterous Chance whilst Sally Field is classy as Sassy. As for Shadow well with the great Don Ameche having passed away they got the equally great Ralph Waite to replace him with that deep homely tone which gives Shadow the aged, sage quality which the character needs. In truth if anyone of these voices were wrong "Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco" would end up too much like hard work.
What this all boils down to is that whilst "Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco" ends up again all a little too familiar for grown ups it still has the fun and creativity to enthral young audiences with the perfect choice of actors to voice the various animals who we meet.
Tags: Dog Movies
