Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco

"Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey" is a beautiful, charming, emotional and timeless classic, as well as one of the best animal movies. But I can't say the same about its sequel.

"Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco" is not a bad film. For a sequel, it's not all that bad. It is still entertaining enough and features the same main cast (except Don Ameche, who passed away in 1993). But the movie just can't reach the greatness of the first one, so the fact that it is disappointing comes to me as no surprise. This movie simply doesn't follow the spirit of the original neither the spirit of others like it.

The plot is somewhat similar to the first one's. However, instead of the Sierra mountains, this one takes our 3 pet friends to the urban life, more precisely to the worst streets of San Francisco. Basically it focus more on desert roads, empty streets and dirty alleys. We don't see that much of San Francisco, neither of its most beautiful things. This is a radical contrast with the first movie's environment, which shows us all the beauty of pure nature in the Sierra mountains.

In this film, our buddies Shadow, Chance and Sassy often face city's dangers, such as weird people, two dog catchers who lock street dogs in their van to take them to one of those creepy laboratories and two rival dogs: a vicious boxer-like dog and a goofy bulldog-like dog, despite the help of numerous street dogs (Riley and his gang).

The two rival dogs are particularly annoying, especially the boxer-like dog. Most of the street dogs here are annoying either, except for Delilah (a beautiful Kuvasz) and Riley. As for the dog catchers, the driver isn't that annoying, but his partner is. On the other hand, the cute little boy Tucker was adorable and his cute kitten Tiger too.

The movie isn't nostalgic, emotional or charming like the first one. While it has some funny gags, it isn't humor as pleasant as in the first one. The soundtrack isn't as good as in the first one, although this one still has some good music.

One of the few really good things in this movie is the Golden Gate Bridge (the enormous bridge in San Franciso), a construction that always fascinated me.

I rented this mostly for my 4-year-old daughter, who enjoys both the 1963 original "Incredible Journey", and the 1993 remake. She thought the sequel was very funny, particularly some of Sassy the Cat's antics. I must admit, the movie took me in as well.

The sequel is a little heavier-handed than the 1993 remake. Not only do our three main characters have to get home, but they have to defeat a gang of city dogs, outwit two dognappers who are trying to sell strays to the "The Lab", rescue a child from a burning building, and find true love on top of it all!

Still, not a bad way to spend 89 minutes. Michael J. Fox is again excellent as Chance, Sally Fields is full of indignation as Sassy, and Ralph Waite does an eerily accurate recreation of the late Don Ameche's characterization of Shadow. Sinbad is wasted as Reilly, their new city dog friend. The character seemed to be more of an afterthought than anything.

Most pleasant surprise: Al Michaels, Tommy Lasorda and Bob Uecker as three dogs "broadcasting" a pee-wee baseball game. If you are looking for a movie to enjoy with your children without feeling totally insulted, Homeward Bound II is a solid bet. A few tense moments, but nothing that should upset anyone beyond the Teletubbies set.

Chance, Shadow and Sassy get lost again.This time those two dogs and the cat try to find their way back home from San Francisco.They are in constant danger as they get chased by illegal dog chasers and a couple of street-wise dogs.But something good happens on the journey when Chance falls for the street dog Delilah.Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco (1996) is directed by David R. Ellis.Michael J. Fox does the voice of the American Bulldog Shance again.Sally Field is the Himalayan cat Sassy again.Ralph Waite has replaced the late Don Ameche as the old Golden Retriever Shadow.Adam Goldberg is the voice of Pete.Carla Cugino is Delilah.Tommy Lasorda is Lucky Lasorda.Michael Bell is Stokey.Jon Polito is Ashcan.Sinbad gives the voice-over for Riley.In plain actors we see Robert Hays, who plays Bob Seaver.Kim Greist is Laura Seaver.Jamie Seaver is played by Kevin Chevalia.Hope Seaver is played by Veronica Lauren.Benj Thall is Peter Seaver.This isn't quite the same level with the first part, but it works.It's fun to watch the small quarrels between those animals."Cats Rule, dogs drool" and that sort of stuff.

Lacking the beauty, charm and teamwork of the original film (the remake) this sequel makes up in adventure and romance! This one is probably slightly funnier, with another good adventure and almost as much proof as the last one that dogs really are man's best friend.

However, this sequel has its flaws, as in things about the film that don't completely make sense if you have watched the first film. For example, in the first film Chance learnt how to be a faithful and kind dog to Jamie, but in this it seem's he's even sillier. Another one of these flaws is that he explains in the first film that he lived on the streets and now Shadow is talking about how he can't live on the streets and he doesn't know how to. WHAT!?

Otherwise, an incredibly good sequel, with romance, adventure and charm, but just doesn't have the emotion that made the original film so special and captivating.

Chance's, Sassy's and Shadow's owners are going on a camping trip and taking the dogs with them. However, Chance, like in the last film, becomes incredibly confused with the situation and escapes out of his dog box before all three of them are loaded onto the plane. That means they are lost in San Francisco, while the humans go off without them! What can they do?

Recommended to people who liked the first film, people who were disappointed that there was no romance in the first film and just people who like dogs!

Enjoy "Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco"!

After revisiting the first one I had to follow it up with this. It's basically hitting the same notes as the first movie, except notes instead of the wilderness, we're hitting the big city as the lovable pets traverse the urban landscape of San Francisco.

This is still a fun ride. We get introduced to a bunch of new dogs and go on some fun adventures. One of our main characters may even fall in love! It's got a moderate case of sequelitis that prevents it from fully living up to the first, but it's still a fun experience.

Fortunately, if you liked the first this should be enjoyable as well. And they're currently both available on the same streaming service, so that's a plus. If you check out the first and it's not for you, there's no reason to watch this one though.