Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco

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.

Homeward Bound:The Incredible Journey was a beautiful charming film, that I have loved since childhood. And maybe it is just me but I feel it is underrated as well. This sequel is inferior, but in my mind, it is decent. It does have its problems, such as the lame direction, the not-so-crisp editing and one too many slow and corny moments in the plot. But what does compensate hugely is the witty script(of which Sassy gets the majority of the best lines), the lovely soundtrack and the voice acting. Michael J Fox and Sally Field once again do fine work, and while the late Don Ameche was a lot more noble and gentle, Ralph Waite does an above average job as the voice of Shadow the Golden Retriever. The animals also did wonderfully and came very close to stealing the show, and the camera-work is often excellent. All in all, worth the look, but be warned that it doesn't quite live up to its original. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Those three beloved pets Chance, Sassy, and Shadow are preparing for a vacation with their human owners. Unfortunately, the pets get stranded at the airport and find themselves running wild all over the city of San Francisco, befriending (as well as making enemies with) street dogs who distrust humans, eluding greedy dogcatchers, and trying desperately to make it home safely to their owners. Amusing and well-intended, this sequel has lots more vocal talents, hilarious wisecracks, and impressive Bay Area scenery, but the story is strained and lacks the heart, joy, and sheer entertainment value of its predecessor. **½

Once again, the animals and their corresponding voices from famous actors make up the bulk of the film (as opposed to real-life actors Robert Hays and Kim Griest playing actual people). Also, we have a similar theme as in the first "Homeward Bound" with animals lost and having to find their way home.

This sequel is not as good as the original. It dwells a little too much on the romance between the two dogs, and it doesn't show enough interesting scenes in San Francisco, which you would really expect from the title of the film alone. The animals stayed too long in one spot and should have been on the move more.

Otherwise, Michael J. Fox and Sally Field once again have a ton of gag lines to speak as the dog and cat, respectively. Many of their lines were good, some very clever that kids won't understand. The jokes of those two were the highlight of the movie. There were no annoying or evil villains, or even bad-guy dog catchers.

All in all, it was okay but nothing special.

"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.