Good Boy

One and a half stars. More than just disappointing: actively bad.

Talking dogs from outer space should be funnier than this, but unfortunately this film tries so hard to be inoffensive that it is nothing more than utterly bland. The idea is that dogs came to Earth thousands of years ago to colonize the place, but instead became friends with humans. Hubble (the main dog character) is an inspector from the home star (Sirius, natch), come to evaluate Earth dogs on their control of the planet. He is appalled at their domesticated status, and would have sent back a scathing report, had he not crashed his space ship and wrecked his interstellar radio. A further accident with UFO technology allows the boy Owen to understand what the dogs are saying. The rest of the film is a predictable attempt by Owen and a group of local dogs to impress Hubble, and to prepare for a visit from the Greater Dane, ruler of all doghood. It's almost amusing in places, and almost touching in others. For the rest, it's dumbed down pap.