Benji: Off the Leash!

I have to say that I read "Pasafist"'s review before seeing this with my daughter, and had some concerns. After seeing it, I do agree on many points, but wanted to add a little different perspective. I am the mother of a pretty savy and intuitive 4 year old. Not much escapes her. Still - most of the dark themes, because they are not part of our world, escaped her. She mostly just liked looking at the dogs. This movie did not capture her attention like other smarter films have (Nemo for example), but it was a cute diversion for her for awhile. I love good family / children's movies and watched them before I had a child, and found this one pretty mediocre. Still - since there is rarely something suitable on for the little guys, it nice to have something mostly wholesome. (Parental warning: The word "butthead" is used for laughs multiple times, and there is a scene with someone getting shot with a tranquilizer gun.)

I took my granddaughter to see Benji, Off the Leash yesterday and was reminded of the fun movies I used to go see as a child. Disney, Kurt Russell, Fred MacMurray, Dean Jones and Suzanne Pleshette. While Benji gets the credit in the title, the story is really about how our lives are intertwined and the wrongness of hurting others (especially animals) for any reason. My granddaughter and I also discussed how you can't always assume to know a person until you really get to know them. For example the two "bumbling dog catchers" turned out to be the nice guys, showing tremendous love and compassion for "Puppy's" mom.

I had the op to meet Joe Camp and Benji this past summer at CBA. The sweetest dog EVER! I was given a card with her paw print, which I put in a scrapbook for my granddaughter. These are the movies our childhood should be made of...not the basic trash we see everywhere else.

Good family movie...includes domestic violence--though not graphically--against people and animals, which make it a cut above some animal comedies. I guess sometimes the animals ARE smarter than we humans..we are just too proud to admit it. But, this is a worthwhile watch...you will "boo" the villains( some of whom, ironically, morph into heroes before the end), root for the good guys...and it fairly well works itself out in the end. A lot of human actors prefer not to work with animal actors because animals steal the scenes. But this is a dog--or several dogs--having their day, and it is a bit of a romp, joyously as well as tragically. Mostly for kids, but worthwhile watching.

We just returned from seeing this film, which opened today in our city. While it's by no means "great art" -- the plot and dialog are pretty basic -- the children around us were all laughing at the appropriate places and seemed involved in the story. When your movie-going experience is punctuated by people around you laughing or going "Awwww..." at the appropriate places, you have to assume they're enjoying themselves.

In an era when so much of what we see in films is created by computer, it was interesting to see the statement in the credits that there was NO computer-generated or animatronic stuff in this film and that all of the actions done by the animals were in reality done by the animals. I also think it's neat that the dogs in the film were actually adopted from animal shelters in different cities and were trained to be in this movie.

The film's humor is directed at younger children, especially the scenes involving the slapstick dog catchers, which older viewers might find a bit overdone. There are also some heavier aspects to the plot, but the children around us didn't seem to react to those so my assumption is that those parts just didn't resonate with the kids and that they were more involved with the cute dogs and what was happening with them.

I thought that the young man who played the lead character(or perhaps I should say, the lead HUMAN character!) did an especially nice job. Nick Whitaker's portrayal of Colby was one of the better acting roles of the film.

Bottom line: It's mainly a kids' movie, and it's a clean kids' movie (no off-color language or foul jokes). If it gets a bit sentimental at times, it makes up for it by showing just how expressive dogs can be, even without the power of speech. Oh -- and if you go, be sure to stay for the credits, which include scenes of the filming.

What an adorable movie! Anyone who walks away unaffected by these amazing dogs or the story has no heart. This time around Benji has a new sidekick and has to avoid a pair of bumbling dogcatchers, all while trying to rescue his sick mother from an evil dog breeder.

This is the perfect movie to take your family to without worrying about inappropriate content or language. This movie is funny, heartwarming and actually touches on serious topics that both adults and children can think about. The movie is never preachy yet it definitely has a message; this isn't your typical, brainless summer drivel. There's something for everyone here. I'd recommend this movie without any hesitation.