Nostalgic Movie Review Time: Benji

Confession: I was a huge Benji fan when I was little. Benji movies were extremely exciting. Something about getting to watch a dog save the day was just a barrel full o' fun back then. I even had a Benji stuffed animal (which is pretty sick, when you think of it). Actually, I still have that stuffed animal--I've since donated it to TRC and DC for their personal enjoyment.



Anyway, I saw that Benji was on Netflix streaming the other day, so I added it to the queue, thinking that it might be a fun family movie to watch. I didn't really have any high expectations, but I thought it was worth a shot. We watched it, and I discovered a couple of things:



Benji's not that bad of a movie. It was quite watchable, mainly due to the acting. Not of the people--that's pretty much dreadful across the board. But Benji? That pooch has some acting chops. He's a smart puppy, and I was continually impressed by all the things he could do on camera. Due in large part to him, I actually started to care about what happened in the movie. No wonder I liked it as a kid.
It still has major kid appeal. My kids loved it, especially DC. She thought it was so much fun to watch a dog do cool things.
It gets really intense for kids at the end. Even TRC was shaken up. A plot that has as its climax the kidnapping of kids and the beating of a dog? Poor DC--who was drawn in so much by the beginning two thirds of the film--was in tears for the last third. She was really worried about the kids and the dogs. Maybe Benji's why I was always worried I was going to get kidnapped when I was little. Thanks, Benji.
Overall, it was a good experience. DC's now sleeping with my old Benji dog, but she has to take turns with TRC for the privilege. If you've got kids around the age of 6-8 or so, I'm betting they'd like the film, too. Two and a half stars, maybe a half star more. No, it's not Casablanca, but for what it is (a dog movie), it's a pretty darn good example of one. I can see why it launched a franchise.