Red Dog: True Blue (2016)

Directed by: Kriv Stenders | 88 minutes | comedy, drama, family, romance | Actors: Jason Isaacs, Levi Miller, Bryan Brown, Hanna Mangan Lawrence, Thomas Cocquerel, John Jarratt, Justine Clarke, Zen McGrath, Winta McGrath, Steve Le Marquand, Syd Brisbane, Kee Chan, Kelton Pell, Calen Tassone

‘Red Dog: True Blue’ is the completely unnecessary prequel for the ‘down under’ much acclaimed top hit ‘Red Dog’ from 2011. However, there is hardly anything positive to say about this film. The film earns one star from the ‘scenery’, the beautiful landscapes of outback Australia (Pilbara) and the infectious musical score. The rest? The acting, the script? Way below par. And, believe it or not, also directed by Kriv Stenders, who did have his affairs in order during the shooting of ‘Red Dog’.

The story in a nutshell: After the death of his father and the forced psychiatric hospitalization of his mother, 11-year-old Mick (Levi Miller) ends up on the Warndurala ranch of his dour grandfather (Bryan Brown). After a cyclone wreaks havoc, he finds a puppy, which he names Blue. Within a year, the two are inseparable. The two often go on adventures and are regularly faced with hot fires. There is a clash with a blind horse, who thinks he is a bull and under a rock formation they find a mysterious stone in the water of the cave. According to aboriginal worker Taylor Pete, the stone has mystical powers, so you should stay far away from it…

In the family film ‘Red Dog: True Blue’, which targets the age from 6 years, the comic content is also far below par. Because, how much fun is a dog that farts and eats a pair of underpants off a clothesline? Add to that the unbelievable love interest of young Mick for his teacher Betty (Hanna Mangan Lawrence) and you have a goof of a movie. Also in the supporting roles (including Jason Isaacs as older Mick who tells the story in flash-backs at the bedside of his own son) nobody manages to impress. It ripples and ripples without really detecting much emotion and authenticity. How, you might ask, did they mess up the ‘legacy’ of ‘Red Dog’ like that? Advice? Stay true to that beautiful tearjerker with a heart from 2011 and let this vehicle run a ‘real blue’…