DVD Review: Space Buddies
Disney Pumps Out Latest in Endless List of Puppy Film Spinoffs
Space Buddies Brief Overview
The six Air Buddies (from previous similarly themed films), namely Buddha, Rosebud, Budderball, B-Dawg, Mudbud and Buddy, all start out the day with their respective young owners, whose personalities thankfully mirrors their own.
When Sam (Nolan Gould) and his school class are scheduled to visit the local space centre, to witness the launch of a new space-age ship which could take tourists to the moon and back, Buddy and his siblings stow away onto the bus, looking for a new adventure, or at least some snacks in the kids' backpacks.
When the people in the command centre at Vision Enterprises finally launch this prototype automated ship, little do they know that the Air Buddies have stowed away (yet again), and are headed for the moon.
Doctor Pi (Bill Fagerbakke, TV's Coach) and his team do their best to effect an Apollo-13 type rescue plan, unaware that the bitter Doctor Finkel (Kevin Weisman, TV's Alias) is foiling their attempts at every turn, in order to discredit them, and gain control of the program.
It is then up to the buddies and their canine ingenuity, to solve problems on the go, including refueling at an ageing Russian satellite populated by an eccentric lone cosmonaut (Diedrich Bader), and exploring the moon. Will they manage to return to Earth safely, to their respective loving owners? You'll have to watch Space Buddies to find out....
Space Buddies Overall Analysis
...or better yet, don't watch it. This latest direct-to-video product is so blatantly by-the-numbers, that it's downright awful. True, this isn't a film comparable to Casablanca or Schindler's List or anything like that, it's a simple kid's movie. That being said, there's no reason that it should be an insult to youngsters' intelligence.
The movie, even in its brief 84 minutes, is so packed to the gills with cheap hidden advertisements for Disney properties (i.e. one of the puppies, upon lift-off, screams out "This is like the ride at Space Mountaiiiin!"), and downright offensive stereotypes (Diedrich Bader's portrayal of the lone Russian on the broken down satellite is condescending to any Russian viewers), that it boggles the mind as to what kind of production quality control might exist in the creative department of the Mouse House.
The movie is laden with passable to horrible dialogue, especially with the puppies expressing themselves in the style of their owners. And so, B-Dawg constantly throws out hip-hop inspired lines that, even when uttered by young impressionable fans of the music genre, sound even more ridiculous when out of a blinged-out puppy.
The concept of the talking puppies is getting somewhat tired, however in the day and age of disposable direct-to-video product, it's hard to avoid endless (and pointless) sequels, such as the upcoming Santa Buddies, later this year.
This film is only for fans of the series, or for parents who have already purchased the previous installments, who are intent on keeping a complete collection. Otherwise, even children may frown at the oversimplified story, and lazy writing.
3 out of 10, for being a bad, bad film even for the young demographic.
Space Buddies DVD Cover
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