88 minutes, Family Comedy/Drama
In 2011, Australian cinema patrons generously opened their wallets to a homegrown breed of cinema that wasn’t perfect, but cast an irresistible charm over audiences courtesy of its many quirky characters, broad range of humour and a story that truly touches the soul. RED DOG, a wonderfully entertaining film for the entire family, unexpectedly became one of the greatest box office and subsequent DVD sales successes ever in Australia. It amassed a healthy $21 Million during its cinema run and to this day, is ranked the #3 highest-selling DVD of all time, behind AVATAR and FINDING NEMO!
RED DOG: TRUE BLUE is a completely fictionalised prequel that has largely been produced in hopes of replicating the original film’s popularity. A young boy, Mick (Levi Miller, who you may know as Peter from the film PAN) is forced to live with his Grandfather (played by Bryan Brown) in remote Western Australia and struggles to adapt to his new surroundings. During one adventurous day out, he meets and befriends a puppy. A puppy that would one day be remembered as the legend of the Pilbara.
I’m sorry RED DOG lovers, but I don’t have good news. RED DOG: TRUE BLUE truly barks up the wrong tree, after a really promising beginning. During its early stages – set in present day Perth, WA and then as Mick is displaced and settles into the outback – many of those fine qualities you cherished in RED DOG are pleasantly on display again here. Until it finally becomes clear that Red’s story has wandered off the screen in this prequel just as far as its real-life subject did in the original film.
Try as he might, RED DOG director Kriv Stenders taps into every trick he can to distract audiences from the sheer emptiness of the screenplay. Unfortunately, all the lavish cinematography, stunning landscape & colours and a melodic music score are not this prequel’s salvation. Things begin to go wrong for RED DOG: TRUE BLUE when it suddenly dawns upon you that a series of amusing and cute scenarios have now become your primary source of entertainment. Quite quickly, these are rendered repetitive and become boring. Then, its two main plot substitutes – one a preposterous attempt at inclusion of the indigenous via some surely fabricated folklore and the other a trite teenage infatuation – send RED DOG: TRUE BLUE straight to the kennel. Worse yet, the conclusion of this picture inadvertently devalues its subject and his journey as shown in the first film.
2 out of 5
Trailer
RED DOG: TRUE BLUE
Viewer Discretion
PG – Mild Themes and Coarse Language
Moviedoc wishes to thank Village Roadshow and Village Cinemas, Jam Factory for the invitation to the Melbourne Premier of RED DOG: TRUE BLUE.
Review by Moviedoc
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