Movies / Home Theatre

Air Bud: Golden Receiver

By Hervé St-Louis
March 24, 2010 - 08:27

Air Bud learns to play football and helps his master Josh Framm lead his team to victory while battling Russians villains that want to exploit animals and kidnap Air Bud for their circus. Meanwhile, Josh learns to deal with his mother’s new boyfriend, Air Bud’s veterinarian. Will Air Bud be as good in football as he was in basketball?

I admit that when I got this DVD in the mail for a review, I wasn’t all that enchanted. My friends who were with me when I got the package looked at me in despair. Some giggled. Air Bud was movie franchise in the late 1990s that was quite popular but was packaged entertainment for kids. It was safe, clean and pro sport. Actually, it combined two or three film genres. It combined the smart pet genre, with team sport films and the coming of age for teenagers type of movie – you know the afternoon special. The plot was more than predictable. The villains seemed borrowed from that other 1990s staple, Home Alone. The dog looked goofy and way too smart for his own good. Finally as apparent, this is not something I would be entertained with if I had to watch that with my kids.

Well you know what, I’m not a kid. The silly thing is they’ll watch it. And because it’s on DVD, I won’t have to suffer an hour and a half at the theatre with them to watch Air Bud. I can just put the DVD on and let them sit in front of the television if they want. I don’t have to sit there with them and enjoy the quality time.  The kids I know hated Coraline, but they won’t hate Air Bud. They’ll watch it and laugh at some of the jokes. Best scenario is to play this thing during a kid’s party. They’ll come and go and Air Bud will provide that background television noise that we enjoy so much. It won’t matter. Air Bud won’t try to take over the afternoon. It’ll just add to the ambience. And you know what, there’s nothing bad with that. All films do not need to be tailored to my specific tastes to be worthy films. I won’t offer Air Bud for a birthday, but I’ll definitely put in the DVD player during the next kid’s party I attend. It won’t piss off anyone. The kids that want to play outside will do. Those that want to be glued to the television can do so at their own risks. If I were to put something like Transformers or a good cartoon, it might either suck all the energy from the kids and turn them into passive viewers not enjoying their party, or it might go unnoticed and I would feel it’s a shame that such a good Miyazaki film is not watched by the kids. And no kid will come out later begging me not to ever put Coraline on the DVD!

Rating: 4 /10

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12