5/10

Man’s best friend becomes a boy’s last ties to his deceased brother, in ‘Max’. A military dog from Afghanistan is adopted by his late handler’s grieving family in the U.S., where his close bond with the soldier’s brother leads to a life-altering revelation that takes the boy from off the couch to a wild summer of adventure in the woods. ‘Max’ would make a terrific double feature with 90’s kid/animal flicks like ‘Free Willy’ or ‘Homeward Bound’. While those comparisons are right on track for the kind of structure the film entails, it falls just short of the emotional bond of those films when reaching out to it’s audience. Perhaps the biggest problem entailing this film is the emotional manipulation that it casts on people who have seen this kind of thing one too many times. The film features a lot of close-up facial reactions complete with volume increasing orchestra tones to reach out and grab at your heartstrings. It all feels desperate to me, but i know this film will touch a lot of people, military vets most of all. One huge noticeable flaw about the making of these canine scenes comes in the obvious that more than one dog was used for Max. I don’t have a problem with this technique, as it’s been done plenty of times in films past, but could you at least make the dogs look somewhat similar? I have terrible vision, but even i could notice differences like height compared to the main character, as well as spots on the fur appearing and disappearing in scene to scene. Upon futher investigation, the film uses seven different dogs. I didn’t catch all of them, but i managed to spot four different appearances in the film that made me laugh during random scenes. Some line reads left me a little perplexed regarding their content. The movie casts a subtle raciallly insensitive side towards the Mexican community, and then never goes back to it. It’s like these scenes happen just to make sure the audience is paying attention. A couple of racial stereotypical jokes, as well as Justin’s father (Played by the usually great Thomas Hayden-Church) responding to a conversation asking a Mexican girl if her family has a lot of dogs because of a dog fighting ring. It just doesn’t make sense, and it still leaves me scratching my head. Not everything is bad however, as the kids cast in the film did a superb job. This is a movie that respects it’s younger audience, as well as the boys and girl who portray them in the film. Josh Wiggins displayed a nice transformation as Justin, the brother of the deceased soldier. He’s a likeable enough character, and his on-screen chemistry with Max will bring a smile more times than not when taking in every scene. The real gem of the film however is Mia Xitlali playing the love interest of Justin. This fifteen year old phenom in the making takes the film by storm, and brings a nice energy to the scenes between Justin and his friends, which would otherwise be dull and tedious. The movie also has enough heart-racing scenes to give fans begging for this film to be decent enough to keep them on the edge of their seats, despite being predictable. The movie has very little original touch, and that is perhaps the biggest telling tale in the way i viewed this film. It’s all been done before. That doesn’t mean the film is bad, just a reminder of films that 90’s children grew up with that don’t stand the test of time. The film has some nice ideas with the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder of Max being in war. It’s something that isn’t often seen in films from a non-human side of the coin, and i wish the movie would’ve explored those consequences a little more. ‘Max’ will more than likely find it’s audience in people who don’t think too much about the problems that are right there on their plates. It’s suitable for all ages, but kids will definitely get the most enjoyment out of it.