A Dog's Journey Review

May 20, 2019 at 7:22pm
By Jason Stettner

A Dog’s Journey is the sequel to 2017’s “A Dog’s Purpose”. This film follows the same dog Bailey who was the star in the first film as well. Josh Gad returns as the lovable voice of Bailey but with even more humor than the first.

A Dog’s Journey follows Bailey’s adventure where he needs to get to Ethan’s (Dennis Quaid) granddaughter CJ (Kathryn Prescott). This sequel has the same style as the first. It shows Bailey in different lives (and different names) following his end goal; to protect CJ. Gail Mancuso directs this sequel and W. Bruce Cameron returns to write the script to the film that’s based off his book.

The pacing to the film was good, following the same flow as the first. The style worked for the original and it didn’t disappoint for the second either. However, it seemed that they focused more on the human aspect of the film which worked good, better than in the first film. They didn’t show any ‘useless” lives of Bailey in this one as opposed to some of what was shown within the prior one. I am a huge fan of using dogs in movies, it just warms my heart, and the message behind this film makes it much better. Having dogs myself, I know how hard it is to train them. So not only is it hard just training one dog but three is impressive.

I feel the whole lost soul musician living in New York thing is kind of overdone but adding a dog into the mix did wonders reinventing the scene. Having the new talent take the reins assists with progression of the franchise and helps open the potential of follow up films. Having not really known about Kathryn Prescott before the film, I can say I am a fan and she really has some talent and will go far in Hollywood. The script writing was better in this one than the first, Josh Gad had more jokes, and the film kept the audience engaged.

The Conclusion

A Dog’s Journey is a heartwarming tale about a dog and his love for his owner. The film is an emotional roller coaster, but it’s just stuff you deal with, especially when owning dogs. The pacing is solid and this is well worth a watch. Like I said about the first one, if have a dog, or if you even just like dogs you will enjoy the movie. I believe this one to be better than the first one.

A Dog's Journey Review at Theater with Standard Viewing
Screening Provided by NBC Universal

Rating Overall: 7.0