Red Dog: True Blue

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source: Red Dog: True Blue

Because I haven't seen the original Red Dog movie like many reviewers here, I'm assessing this movie as a stand-alone proposition. It's a heartwarming story of childhood in the Australian outback told by way of Michael (Mick) Carter's (Jason Isaacs) reminiscing with his 12 year son Leo (Zen McGrath). When Mick was 12 himself (Levi Miller) in 1969, he was sent to his grandpa's (Bryan Brown) vast remote cattle station near Dampier in Western Australia and by vast I mean it's 3 flights to get there and it needs a helicopter to get around and muster cattle. It turns out that Mick has been sent to his grandfather because his mother has been committed to a mental institution but this information is kept from the young boy. Not long after settling in, he finds a little puppy caked in mud and he calls him Blue because he looked blue in the mud but once he washes him off, he was red but the name stuck. Mick is mischievous and inquisitive and roams the vast station on a small motorbike that his grandpa gave him and he discovers a cave where he finds a sacred Aboriginal rock. He gets on well with an aboriginal musterer only a few years older than him. A funny highlight of the movie is when his grandpa flies in a tutor called Betty (Hanna Mangan Lawrence) to help Mick do his correspondence lessons, something Mick is dreading and it turns out to be a girl who's only six years older than him who just finished high school and he develops a huge early adolescent crush to the point where he wants to fight the helicopter pilot who also fancies her! After a year it turns out that the mother has been transferred to an institution in Melbourne and Mick is going to go to a grammar boarding school there and so, such is the bond between boy and dog, it ends up being a very tearful and difficult separation and in fact Blue follows the helicopter and soon after runs away from the station and roams the great northwest setting up the plot for the original Red Dog movie. This reminisce is triggered by the older Michael Carter taking his two boys to see the Red Dog movie where he cries and he tells his son how what was in the movie came to happen. Bryan Brown puts in a typically brilliant performance. He's not only one of Australia's most experienced actors but he seems to personify the rugged Aussie bloke and he portrays the tough, grizzled outback farmer to a T and so it's an interesting dynamic watching him develop a closeness to his near teenage grandson. This was the second of five major leading roles that the then 12 year old Levi Miller landed in 18 months (Pan preceded this film and then the next year, Better Watch Out, American Exit and Jasper Jones). Levi demonstrates in this rather pedestrian story line the ability to brilliantly portray with great accurate nuance what often happens for early adolescent boys. He's become not just one of Australia's top actors but he's right up there in the top echelon of teen actors globally with likely strong adult roles ahead.

The scene cuts in this were really strange, one of the first things I noticed. They just didn't seem to flow and made the movie feel choppy? The acting in this movie was very subpar which really surprised me? When I saw the cast I thought I was in for a treat but no? The jokes seemed very forced and fell flat nearly every time. It almost felt like people from overseas trying to write Aussie "jokes". I didn't understand the supernatural aspect of this movie, I assume that bit was just the older Mike trying to spook his son maybe. But it just didn't seem to make sense and felt out of place (again). The ending was genuinely sad but I couldn't help but feel the whole time watching it "I know you're just trying to make me feel the same thing I felt in the first" so it just didn't do the same for me. But my main annoyance with this movie was Red Dog. In the 1st Red Dog, Red (or blue I guess) always seemed to have a place, his presence pushed the movie along and brought people together. His presence in the movie made sense and brought together all the central conflicts and helped resolve them. In Red Dog 2, Blues presence does nothing but provide a cute face. This movie was honestly just a coming of age movie and you could have removed the dog and nothing would really change? His presence really did nothing to push the movie along and it wasn't until nearly the end that he actually did something. Also in this movie Blues presence makes barely any impact on anyone but Mike. In the 1st he connected with everyone he came into contact with (even the "evil" cat!), but in this, nothing? It was just bizarre. Look I'm not going to be entirely negative. This is a perfectly watchable movie, I would by no means walk out of it and I had a pretty enjoyable time watching it. As a film by itself, it's fine. Just compared to the first movie you can't help but see all the downfalls about this film. Red Dog was a beautiful, emotionally moving, incredible tribute to a real dogs undying loyalty. I actually cry thinking about that movie I'm not even joking. In fact in the opening scene when you see the devastating montage of the first I legitimately started bawling just remembering it with the music. Red Dog: True Blue just doesn't contain that same magic that tugs at the heart strings. You can tell it's desperatley trying to do that but just falls flat and seems like a typical cash grab. I feel the director and writers genuinely tried to live up to the former magic but let's be honest, you can't beat the first and I tend to go by this rule with movies, if it's not broke don't try to fix it.

No depth in the characters no depth in the story..Only nice landscapes and clear shots. As if only the director of photography made the film and the director was missing. Shallower than soap opera.

The sequel to red dog. This ones about a dog. A red one

I enjoyed this from start to finish. Following Jason Isaacs as he flashes back to the late 1960's when he was a young boy and was sent to live with his grandfather (Bryan Brown) -who I always like- at a remote western Australia cattle station. He expects days of boredom and drudgery from his homeschooling but instead finds adventure and a lifelong friend in the form of a scrappy self assertive dog with bright red fur he finds after a storm. It's adventure, family, friendship, set in a beautiful location, some Australian folklore which I really enjoyed, interesting things from the late 60s, returning Vietnam veteran stockman the "brothers" Big and Little John who aren't really brothers but had found a way to be together. Red dog was fantastic, showcasing true Kelpie; loyal to one person, strong of will and spirit. This was also one of those movies that by the end had me wishing I d never watched it because it has the saddest ending ever. So sad I have to try not to think about it, so sad the person I watched it with said its more than sad it was heartbreaking, even sadder when you realize that this is a prequel and what that meant for 'Blue' for the entire other movie Red Dog. Yeah I cried