Chance has been living
happily with Jamie and his family for 2 years, but even though there’s no
shortage of food and things to tear apart, life as a pet can get dull and he
wants something more. When the family takes the pets on a camping trip to
Canada, Chance gets his wish when he, Shadow, and Sassy escape from the airport
and get lost in San Francisco. Their only chance of going home is to finding
the Golden Gate Bridge, but with the many dangers of the city about they learn
that they can only get there with the help of a gang of strays. Chance quickly
falls with Delilah, a member of the gang and faces a difficult choice: go home
to Jamie or stay with Delilah, adventure, and freedom.
Whilst is doesn’t have
the heartbreaking and beautiful story of loyalty and friendship that infused
the first one and made it so adorable and memorable, this Disney sequel still
stands up as a bit of a Romeo and Juliet for pooches.
Really more reminiscent
of West Side Story in some respects, Lost in San Francisco tells a cute
little tale of overcoming adversity, growing up, and following the heart. Yes,
it all sounds very cheesy and predictable, but it still works and makes for a
fun-filled movie experience. Once again, the story is told from the point of
view of Chance with his voice-over narration guiding us all the way through.
Moreover, it’s a story about Chance finding where his heart truly lies and he
becomes the classic hero caught between two worlds. On the one hand, he has
Jamie and family and his loyalty to Jamie is almost akin to that of Shadow’s to
Peter in the first movie. But then again, puppy love strikes and suddenly the
new world seems brighter than it did before. So then, this becomes a romantic
comedy for two dogs: one from the burbs and one from the ghetto, overcoming the
odds to be with each other. It may be a bit clichéd, but that story obviously
still works! It’s West Side Story,
it’s The Little Mermaid, it’s Pretty in Pink!
Our favourite trio of
house pets are back in the limelight, providing entertaining antics with their
character chemistry and cute little relationships. Sassy gets all the sarcastic
one-liners, Shadow is still the husky and wise voice of reason, and Chance is
still the carefree pup. Added into the mix are a bunch of new characters including
ghetto smooth-talkers Riley and Sledge and slow-drawling redneck Bando. Not to
mention, our heroes are faced with a new evil in this movie; where before it
was bears and mountain lions, here stray dogs and humans really are the enemy
with a particularly despicable duo of men going around stealing dogs to bring
to a science lab (a bit reminiscent of Beethoven).
Whilst the villain plot of these two never really gets developed, the extra
threat that they bring to the movie is sufficient and works as a good ulterior
driving force for characters to make decisions at the film’s more climactic
parts.
Starring Robert Hays, Kim Greist, Benj Thall, Veronica Lauren, Kevin
Chevalia, and featuring the voice talents of Michael J. Fox, Sally Field, Ralph
White, Al Michaels, Tommy Lasorda, Bob Uecker, Tress MacNellie, Jon Polito,
Adam Goldberg, Sinbad, Tisha Campbell, Stephen Tobolowsky, Ross Malinger,
Michael Bell, and Carla Gugino, Homeward
Bound II: Lost in San Francisco is a solid and enjoyable sequel to a beautiful
original movie. Filled with adventure, drama, adversity, romance, suspense, and
comedy, it’s a fun-filled movie that the whole family can very well get
something out of.
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