A Dog's Journey Review
PG: For thematic content, some peril and rude humor
Universal Pictures, Amblin Entertainment, Reliance Entertainment, Walden Media, Alibaba Pictures
1 Hr and 48 Minutes
Director: Gail Mancuso | Screenwriter: W. Bruce Cameron, Cathryn Michon, Maya Forbes, Wally Wolodarsky
Cast: Josh Gad, Marg Helgenberger, Betty Gilpin, Henry Lau, Kathryn Prescott, Dennis Quaid, Emma Volk
Release Date: May 17th, 2019
Bailey (voiced again by Josh Gad) is living the good life on the Michigan farm of his "boy," Ethan (Dennis Quaid) and Ethan's wife Hannah (Marg Helgenberger). He even has a new playmate: Ethan and Hannah's baby granddaughter, CJ. The problem is that CJ's mom, Gloria (Betty Gilpin), decides to take CJ away. As Bailey's soul prepares to leave this life for a new one, he makes a promise to Ethan to find CJ and protect her at any cost. Thus begins Bailey's adventure through multiple lives filled with love, friendship and devotion as he, CJ (Kathryn Prescott), and CJ's best friend Trent (Henry Lau) experience joy and heartbreak, music and laughter, and few really good belly rubs.
I didn’t think we’d have to deal with two A Dog’s ___ movies this year but here we are. While I detest the spinoff - A Dog’s Way Home, which was released this January - I thoroughly enjoyed A Dog’s Purpose back in 2017. I remember that, through all the schmaltziness of the vignettes, it got to me and my tears. That’s mostly because of the bond between Dennis Quaid and the dog, Bailey, which is strongest aspect of this movie. When A Dog’s Journey begins and we dive back into the lives of Ethan, his wife Hannah, and Bailey, it starts off strong. Because of Bailey’s sweet adventure in the predecessor - finding his way back to his boy, Ethan - the bond between the two brilliantly carries over here. It’s cute watching Bailey and Quaid together. Quaid is pretty charming and the chemistry with this dog is pure.
Now, this story focuses more on Bailey being assigned to look after Ethan and Hannah’s granddaughter, CJ, due to her mom being a completely detestable person. And that promise leads Bailey’s spirit on another adventure. Before I get to my issues with the film, I will admit that the cast is great. Whoever was the casting director for this really snatched up terrific performers who made these characters fluid throughout the course of time. As time progressed and Bailey went through different breeds of life, I was always eager to see the next stage of CJ’s age and the people around her.
You have Abby Ryder Fortson (Cassie Lang from Ant-Man) and Ian Chen (Evan Huang from Fresh Off the Boat) as young CJ and young Trent, and I thought the film shined the most during their youth because of how great those performers are. These kid actors are already used to comedy and material such as this and they’re great. If the two were cast by anyone else, they could’ve possibly been as bad as the writing of this movie, if not worse. But the charisma the young performers provide is so well-executed that I was smiling the entire time. No matter how predictable and utterly over the top the story became, their performances carried me through. That goes for the adult versions of the characters as well, portrayed by Kathryn Prescott and Henry Lau. They give really solid and impressive performances given the material and I just saw the characters as genuine people as opposed to the performers. Hell, it wasn’t until later that I realized Prescott was on Skins and Lau is from Korean pop group sensation Super Junior. You know, the guys everyone used to love before BTS even became a concept. But yeah, both are talented and they carry this movie.
Plus, credit to Josh Gad’s narration which is so tender and calming that I can just imagine him in the recording booth delivering every line with a smile. I might’ve said that in my A Dog’s Way Home review regarding Bryce Dallas Howard, but it’s true. Granted, his lines are often one-liners for laughter (that often fall flat), but there were moments of dialogue which gave each dog that his spirit carried over into their own personality while delivering his recognizable voice. He provides humor and he’s funny, especially when he becomes Max, the Shih Tzu master of chaos. I’m not gonna lie, it’s unintentionally hilarious because of the thin, predictable mess of a script and Josh Gad’s lines.
This sequel is still rampant with cute dogs that put a smile on your face, but by God do you see them die in the most gruesome and depressing ways. The first time you see Bailey die before he respawns as a new dog, he’s lethally injected and YOU SEE IT! The film never cuts away from Bailey’s deaths and it’s often jarring. But this film does have a better way of showing Bailey’s spirit going through different incarnations throughout his journey than the predecessor, which I will give them credit for.
The predecessor is more set on vignettes of Bailey’s journey, which to me was the core and charm of that movie. At least the first film had an adventurous story that was emotional and well-paced. This sequel is more focused on one person, which means it’s extensive on the telegraphed melodrama. Like the spinoff, this is very bare bones. From the first ten minutes alone you can predict where this story is going. From the moment you see CJ and Trent interacting for the first time, YOU KNOW where this narrative is going!
This movie is rated PG and is intended for families, but I still don’t know who these dog movies are for. They’re really too damn mature with their themes and I’m baffled that they get around that MPAA rating. For a series that is about one dog dying multiple times, I’m overly concerned about the stories surrounding that dog as opposed to the dog dying MULTIPLE TIMES.
CJ has a mom named Gloria (played by Betty Gilpin) and her mode is set on EVIL. In the midst of this well-developed girl, you have this overreacting, selfish, and spiteful being of a mom and she just never felt like a character. Everybody else felt like a character, primarily because of the progression of time and the grounded performances by the cast, but not Gloria. She is only on one note and that is EVIL. The film is never subtle about it either, as in nearly every scene she has to have a glass of wine or champagne in her hand and sipping it in each shot to make it more transparent. They even have Bailey stating the obvious, such as, “she smells stronger than usual today.” She’s like a character out of - and hear me out on this - a Tyler Perry movie. From Gilpin’s over-the-top performance to how the character is written, with how she barely resembles a person because of how overly onenote and despicable she is, she makes the story feel more telegraphed than it already was.
It’s not even just Gilpin either. Any man in the movie that isn’t Trent, and is a suitor of CJ’s, is most likely presumed to be a dickhead. Even the ones you thought were good dudes in the beginning, just on a whim, would turn into the biggest asshole just for the sake of progressing the predictable romance between the leads. The narrative beats of CJ’s life are very note-for-note, but the actresses who portray the versions of her do a great job. And hey, between this and The Sun is Also a Star, this is a great time for Asian dudes getting that interracial love.
A Dog’s Journey has its sweet, genuine moments and great performances to carry the story, but the overall blandness of the manipulative story makes this sequel an [insert dog pun here]. What? I don’t feel like making a joke about this. Rent it when it comes out on digital. It’s much more serviceable as a home viewing.
Rating: 2.5/5 | 56%
