For the Love of Benji

What a great movie. No action, no swearing, no gore, just a wonderful family movie with that lovable dog, Benji. The story seems unlikely and impossible, but who cares? I don't. It makes you appreciate whatever pet you have. Wheter it be a dog, a cat, a bird, a fish, etc. Like other Benji movies, his one is fun to watch and should be seen with the family, including the family pet. Thumbs up!

Benji, that adorable dog, is supposed to be in a happier situation after the first film. He is a beloved family member and a pampered pooch. When some family members decide to go to Greece, Benji gets to go along. However, there are doggynappers lurking nearby and Benji is almost seized upon. But, being the brilliant dog that he is, Benji manages to escape their clutches and begin exploring a lovely city in Greece and its surroundings. He helps himself to a bit a Greek pasta at a restaurant and has a close call with a Doberman, among other things. Will he be able to find his way back to his family? If you love dogs and family films, this is a good choice. It is mostly Benji on the loose in Greece, where the scenery is a knockout, and where Benji gets in and out of one scrape after another. There are a few iffy passages, where guns are flashed and Benji is subjected to chloroform. However, this is mostly a little dog on the run in a charming movie. Families everywhere, for the love of Mike and Benji, please locate this one for an entertaining evening of fun for your loved ones.

This second film consists mostly of scenes of Benji running. That doesn't have to be a bad thing. The first Benji film consisted mostly of scenes of Benji running, too, but it was quite good. This follow-up isn't as good, but for other reasons.

On the positive side, returning writer/director Joe Camp stuck with something unusual that he did in the first film--he did the film from a dog's point of view. That doesn't mean that the film is in first person from Benji's perspective. Imagine more a dog directing. The content, kinds of shots and kinds of angles are mostly what a dog might do. It made the first film, with its very unusual structure, a success, and it more or less makes this one, which also has an unusual structure, well, not exactly a success, but it makes it "kinda work".

A couple factors bring the success rate down a bit. The story takes place in Greece this time--in a move that seems like maybe the crew and cast wanted a paid vacation in Greece--and a lot of dialogue is in Greek, without subtitles. Although interesting for adults, that's a particularly odd move for a family film, and the goal here is definitely to make a family film--Camp even announces this at the very beginning on screen.

Also odd for a family picture, most of the human-sourced interaction in the film features people attacking or chasing Benji--with chloroform, with meat cleavers, with fruit, with a big mean Doberman, and with guns. Not that it's graphic in any way, but the concept is there, and Benji's running is mostly precipitated by unfriendly people chasing him.

There is a complex plot involving scientific research, where they want to use Benji for nefarious goals, and where Benji seems to be world-famous, all of which is never explained very well. Heck, most of the dialogue about this is in Greek, although the science-oriented stuff is very sketchily explained in English at the end. Benji being so well-known is never explained.

And a final problem--even though the first film was also as if directed by a dog, there were important human characters who had some depth to them. That's not the case here. Benji's owners are hardly in the film and the villains are almost completely non-developed the short amount of time that they're in the film.

So we're left primarily with Benji running and running through Greece. Through airports. Through the city streets. Just outside of the city near some ancient ruins. The scenery is nice and nicely shot, Benji does some neat trained actions, and insofar as Camp explores everyday dog stuff, the film is rewarding. Heck, the chased-by-villains scenes are pretty rewarding, too, even if plotwise, you don't know exactly what's going on or why it's going on.

This may be the worst Benji film (and I don't know yet, since I'm just rewatching them now after not seeing them for many years), and it may not be a great film for kids for a couple reasons, but it is still very mildly recommendable, especially for fans of Benji films and animal films in general, or for anyone who wants a glimpse of what Greece was like in 1977. It's also amusing to note how much Benji looks like Ron Wood.

We enjoyed this sweet little movie very much. We had not seen the first film so this was our introduction to the Benji saga. It's a typical plot, however unlikely, about spies using Benji to smuggle secrets and the efforts of all concerned to capture him, all taking place in the streets and hillsides of Athens, Greece. Benji is utterly charming. It is a joy to watch him as he makes his rounds and does what needs to be done. Yes, he runs a lot, and very fast for a small dog. What heart Benji has! A true family movie. Benji is adorable in this film. If you like dogs or animal movies and are still a bit young at heart you will enjoy this. As a result of watching "For The Love Of Benji" we will definitely check out the original "Benji" movie, which was a sensation back in the 1970s.

This is the ultimate family movie!! Benji, Super Dog extraordinaire, makes a howling appearance in this Ameri/Greek movie.

The family goes to vacation with their two dogs in Greece. Along the way, Benji gets implanted with a secret code by the evil Chandler Dietrich. Chandler befriends the family knowing that, without their trust and friendship, he won't be able to smuggle Benji away from them at the right time. What Chandler doesn't plan on is Benji getting lost en-route to Crete!!

Anyway, the film goes on sharing the antics of this tiny little dog-without-a-breed and casts him as a hero. To find out what happens to Benji and his adorable family, you'll just have to watch!

Benji movies are so much fun for children. If you have a pet in the family, whether a dog, cat, bird or hamster, your children are guaranteed to appreciate them more after seeing this film. There is no nudity, no hard-core language (in fact no swearing at all that I can remember), no violence, and no yucky stuff. It is a class A children's movie. Enjoy it with some popcorn and with Fido sitting close at hand!!