Benji - Off the Leash Reviews
Top Critic
A mildly pleasant, aggressively retro kidpic that should please undemanding moppets without unduly boring their parents.
All the Benji productions have had a high corn content, but in this one, even the corn is cheap.
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| Original Score: 2/4
The overall unevenness of tone is the movie's biggest flaw, but the slo-mo scenes of doggie derring-do are quite funny, and the message about how to treat both humans and animals evergreen.
Parents ... are more likely to experience the film as a blend of clumsy slapstick and mind-numbing bathos.
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| Original Score: 2/5
Long before the happy ending arrives, even the most dedicated dog lover will have ceased to care.
It all plays very much like an extremely drawn-out episode of Lassie updated with references to child, spousal and dog abuse.
| Original Score: 1.5/4
A shaggy-dog story that goes from boring to downright bizarre.
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| Original Score: 1/4
Not one of the great dog movies, but it's a good one, abandoning wall-to-wall cuteness for a drama about a homeless puppy.
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| Original Score: 3/4
Camp's films are independently produced, use little-known actors, and there's a slightly amateurish quality to them. But Benji: Off the Leash! has a raggy charm, like the dogs, and a solid moral ending.
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| Original Score: 2/4
The fifth film to feature the lovable mutt Benji is an old-fashioned boy and his dog story.
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| Original Score: 3/5
It seems as if all the effort in the movie went toward making the pooches seem empathetic and emotional, but little thought went into making the human characters multidimensional.
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| Original Score: 2.5/4
It's essentially a long-form public service announcement extolling the virtues of animal adoption and decrying the scourge of unfettered dog breeding.
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| Original Score: 2/5
Benji is back, which is good news for youngsters and pet-loving families. Film lovers perhaps should steer clear, however, as hokey melodrama and sloppy comedy fill the gaps between neat dog tricks.
In direction, story construction, camerawork and performances both human and canine, Benji Off the Leash! is the best of the Benji canon.
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| Original Score: A-
Couldn't they find a dog that at least looked like the original? This bowser is fluffier than Benji ever was, and is mostly dingy white.
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| Original Score: 2.5/5
This unwarranted iteration of the '70s shaggy-dog tale pales in entertainment value compared to its website, which features a rant from the mutt's creator, Joe Camp.
