As a "co-owner" of two Chihuahua's, I was dragged to the theater to see this disastrous film. It's not my typical fan fare, one usually consisting of international dramas and intellectual plots. And on all of these measures, this movie utterly fails. But somehow I was OK with this and have come to slightly appreciate the film through the lens of it's audience.
It is a quaint family film which transcends our four legged friends celebrating the love and struggles in life. The movie is a triangulation of ideas - It plays on the differences in people, it's a coming of age story, it plays on loyalty, and has an innocent love dynamic. These themes are portrayed allegorically through some of American's purist companions - dogs. This is a painfully light hearted film about a "stuck up" female dog who ends up on an unexpected journey in Mexico which leads to love and change. It's an tired old theme, and as it delivers laughs very sparingly, but it still manages to deliver family fun and has some redeeming qualities.
This movie at best is seen through the lens of a 5 year old's mindset and aptly was aimed at and delivered to that demographic in spades. We have grown spoiled with "childrens" movies containing complicated subtexts for adults, this one does none of these things, if you want something better, watch WALL-E.
