Sometimes studios just can’t leave an idea alone. Was it a good idea to make a film about a dog that played sports, better known to some as Air Bud? Probably not, but no matter what, why not just follow it up with a sequel, actually more than just "a" sequel? Sure, but that’s still not enough, and now there’s yet another Air Bud, the sixth in the series, Air Buddies.

Air Buddies, or Air Bud 6, still follows with what the previous films have. Air Bud met Molly, another golden retriever who lives across the street, somewhere along the way when he wasn't too busy playing sports, and the two dogs have since had puppies. There are five in all with their own personalities; Budderball, B-Dawg, Buddha, Mudbud and Rosebud. The problem is that the puppies are starting to grow up and it’s time to find them new homes, something that they aren’t too pleased with.

New families will soon be the last thing on the puppies minds. First, they decide to run away but then there is bigger trouble. A spoiled rich brat isn’t keen on the tiger that his father has bought for him and wants something more; Air Bud. So, a plan is hatched to kidnap the sports playing pooch and once the bad guys found out about the puppies, they want them as well. So the five siblings head off on an adventure to save their parents and learn a valuable lesson along the way.

Oh yeah, and all the animals talk.

I’m not a dog lover, though they seem to love being around me for some reason. It’s not that if they come up to me and want me to pet them I’ll ignore them, but given the choice between getting a dog or a cat, I’ll take the feline any time because of their independence at attitude. So, give me a film featuring five puppies that happen to talk no less and you can imagine my enthusiasm. Air Buddies is a trite and ridiculous effort to simply cash in on the Air Bud name for yet a third time (and hopefully final) and it becomes nothing more than an excursion into the ludicrous.

Okay, so I know that the film is aimed at a much younger audience, but regardless, the movie really is bland, predictable, and filled with humor that is nothing short of the type of thing that leaves me shaking my head, questioning the script writing. I can see tossing in pop culture references, but here we find cliché sayings that are long gone and that most young film viewers aren’t even going to fully grasp. Wendy’s old ad campaign of Where’s the Beef? Seriously? Someone though this would be hilarity at its best? A play on Apocalypse Now’s “I love the smell of napalm in the morning’ (but here, I love the smell of bacon in the morning.) Sure, parents might get it, but kids aren’t going to have a clue. Let’s not forget the essential farting animal, Budderballl in this case, something that I is meant to add in more comedy, but it really doesn’t.

The pup’s also need to have their own personalities for kids to identify with or imitate. B-Dawg, as you may have already guessed just by the name, is the hip-hop puppy who wants to give a little love to all his peeps. Budderballl is the overeater. Rosebud is the female of the litter with plenty of references to girl power. Buddha is the zen puppy and Mudbud loves to get dirty. Great, so not only do the dogs talk, they become annoying. This all goes back to the over usage of cliché flavor of the month sayings, many of which really hold no bearing in the real world at this point, but that’s typical of many Hollywood features and network television shows.

Air Buddies also attempts to milk the cute factor for all it can get. The puppies not only have their own personalities, but a fashion sense so that you can easily identify who is who. And, you can’t just have dogs talking, but goats, pigs, and just about every other animal that the writers could feasibly think of throwing into the mix. The human cast really becomes nothing more than second string players save for the two main villains, Grim (Trevor Wright) and Denning (Paul Rae) but these two are nothing more than a shoddy attempt to imitate Disney rogues from the past. The sequences featuring these two are filled with nothing more than second rate pratfalls, stupid jokes, and predictability that is telegraphed five scenes ahead of time. I also had to shake my head at the cheap effort to toss in a Disney connection, 101 Dalmatians, playing at a drive-in theater no less, and with the dialog from the characters, it’s really more of an attempt to sell more DVD’s as one of the dog comments on how it’s his favorite movie. If the dog likes it, a kid is going to have to as well because, after all, the dogs in Air Buddies did.

Disney lately has had this idea that they need to include music videos on every DVD they release, and I suppose that’s not a bad idea in some cases. I guess that Jordan Pruitt is the latest teen flavor of the month, and probably some hug superstar on Radio Disney and her cover of We Are Family is included. I never liked the original version, and I certainly don’t like this R&Bhip-hop style. There is a behind the scenes feature of sorts with the dogs, or puppies rather, being interviewed about the movie. Yes, how very clever. You will also find a segment on how you can train your dog to be a star, and I’m guessing it won’t work very well with cats (especially not mine, he’s a little . . . slow.) Last, there are profiles of the puppies, you know, just in case you’ve forgotten who is who by the time the movie is over and trust me, it won’t let you.

Air Buddies isn’t just a forgettable sequel for a movie that didn’t need any additional films in the first place, it ultimately becomes an unforgivable train wreck. Cute just doesn’t work here, and when recalling all of the Disney live action films that I saw in my youth, Air Buddies definitely isn’t on par with some of their more memorable movies of yesteryear like Pete’s Dragon, The Apple Dumpling Gang, The Cat from Outer Space . . . . actually just about every live action film Disney released in the late 60’s on into the 70’s. Instead, Air Buddies really becomes an exercise in patience, and I feel that even the real intended audience isn’t going to see too much to keep them interested, though they may want you to buy them a golden retriever puppy when it’s all said and done, which is probably going to be quite a bit more entertaining.

And, let me warn you: 2008 - Air Bud: Aussie Rules. I suppose squash, a bit of pool, darts, and maybe extreme snowboarding are next for the dog.

-mike-
 

Directed by: Robert Vince   Written by: Anna McRoberts & Robert Vince   Cast: Richard Karn Don Knotts Josh Flitter Abigail Breslin Spencer Fox Dominic Scott Kay Skyler Cisondo Everett Scott Molly Shannon Wallace Shawn Debra Jo Rupp Michael Clarke Duncan Patrick Cranshaw

DVD Features: Anamorphic - 1.78:1 Pan & Scan - 1.33:1 Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 & French Dolby Digital 5.1 English, Spanish & French Subtitles Train Your Dog to be a Star Hollywood Backstage Pass w/Air Buddies Bloopers Music Video