Beethoven: Urlaub mit Hindernissen

Judge Reinhold takes up the lead quite literally in a film that isn't half as bad as others have made out.

It's very silly, it doesn't hold up to much scrutiny, but it is decent enough entertainment.

To say this is not a patch on the first two Beethovens is a simplistic understatement. Whoever put up the money to make this ghastly waste of space must have been barking mad. The "best" of the puerile toilet gags that litter the film involve exploding sewage outlets (all over the bad guys, naturally); the eponymous pooch farting after an overdose of eggs; and the dog licking a gigantic ball of earwax. The plot is daft and the baddies so stupid you almost feel sorry for them. The only ray of light (for us girls, anyway) is a drop-dead gorgeous cop right near the end of the film, providing the excuse for the inevitable car chase. But even he doesn't make it worth wasting time or money on this one.

I really enjoyed the first film, and while the second had its faults that was pretty good as well. Along with the fourth film, which is little more than a mediocre canine rehash on the classic Prince and the Pauper tale, this is one of the weaker films of the franchise. The soundtrack is great and Beethoven himself is fun and huggable, but everything else doesn't work. Judge Reinhold takes over from Charles Grodin, and while I have nothing personal against Reinhold, he overcompensates by acting almost every scene like it is an amateur dramatics pantomime. Julia Sweeney looks really lovely as his wife but she is underused and looks embarrassed. I am not surprised that the acting was sub par for they are very ill used with a badly underwritten script, very amateurish camera work and a very formulaic plot. I know the plot wasn't necessarily a strong point in the first Beethoven film, but at least that film had charm and fun. The pacing is also uneven, and as the increasingly silly and unfunny antics wore on I found myself bored and caring less for the characters, especially those rather clownish villains. Not to mention a flat climax that felt rushed and abrupt. Overall, disappointing and mediocre. 3/10 Bethany Cox

Of all of the Beethoven movies, Beethoven's 3rd is the funniest! The second was pretty good, but this one has some hilarious moments. I don't care what anyone here says, I liked it. The 2 "bad guys" were hilarious. "I felt a great disturbance in the force, as if 7 gnomes cried out at once, and were silenced." The lanky dude is esoteric like this, either you get that style of humour or you don't. I do, so I think it's funny. The other guy is a speed junkie who drinks caffeinated beverages by the scads and has some pretty funny physical comedy scenes. Judge Reinhold was a great dad in this movie, and has some funny lines. The Shakiest Gun in the West, "That was one of the highlights of the trip", for pete's sake! Funny stuff.

Ok, the problems with this movie are numerous, but they must start with the silly storyline.

1- Thieves put a virus on a DVD and then sell the DVD to a movie rental store, only to wish to purchase it back again, only to notice that Judge Reinhold bought it (or at least I hope he bought it because otherwise he'd have massive rental fees), yet if he bought it, then the theives would have had to put a factory seal on it, which they didn't.

Anyway, trying to figure out the logic of this is beyond the point of the movie. In fact, its illogical that a movie with such a plot would even be green-lit (let a lone a sequel with the same copywrite date???, which doesn't even follow directly from the "surprise ending" of this movie--> if you can even call it a surprise).

Anyway, Judge Reinhold is decent and the new Newton family is at least watchable, yet the writing of this movie is the biggest disapointment. The characters are basically just around to fill holes and none of them have any character developement. Brennan's character is just whinny kid, who uses Beethoven to seduce girls (as he lacks charm), Sara is just there to be on the dog's side and to play off her brother, Beth is just a whinny Mom who hates the dog, and the theives are just idiots, the cops are pretty stupid, heck the best part may be the Video Store Clerk. At least Greg Pitts shows some range in an obvious Quentin Tarantino reference to his video store clerk days.

Too bad the rest of the film could not have been as clever. Rating: 3 (at least its better than part 4: rating of 2)