Far from Perfect, Far from Terrible

n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

This is the citizen kane of garbage films! They should have stayed down there!

I managed to come across the 1993 VHS release of this movie at a record store I often visit. Since this was on my watchlist, I decided to view this film before the DuckTales VHS I had purchased along with it. I had expectations of this film from the reception of others and from really, really enjoying The Secret of NIMH. Now, did this film meet them?I would say that this film met only half of what I was anticipating. To this film's well-deserved credit, the animation isn't horrid by any means and does pull off some nice uses of early CGI (specifically when the crane moves Charlie's and Itchy's car). It does have some minor issues such as Charlie sometimes not having little dots on his cheeks, but one significant problem happened with the house filled with puppies. Before the sharing scene, it was dark and wooden, while in the scene after Charlie's admission to Itchy, it was lighter and appeared more stone-like and decrepit around the stairs. Maybe the lighting was different, but it was so drastic that it seriously annoyed me. The characters are OK, having great acting but not really possessing a lot of complexity or, in some instances, general usefulness to the plot (looking at Killer). It did, however, give us the Big Lipped Alligator Moment meme, which is probably where my highest praise for this movie goes. The story, however, is IMO the biggest detractor of points from this film; the heart is disappointingly ineffective, and it treats a somber religious idea like something lighthearted. There was one scene where One Hundred and One Dalmatians was ripped off, and it doesn't follow consistent rules for anthropomorphism (this is especially noticeable with the horses). It isn't the worst writing I've seen, but I am frankly amazed at how much potential was lost in the story. At least it doesn't fall too far behind in jokes, as there were two chuckles I had during the film. I am conflicted on what to say about this movie's morals; Charlie saves Anne- Marie, but also uses her for personal gain like Itchy despite taking inspiration from a Robin Hood version of War and Peace. Any way you put it, the story is messier than an ungroomed dog's fur. I have nothing to say about the music because it's forgettable, whatever fun, craziness, or good lessons it preaches.If you are a more religious person, you could take solace in Charlie's redemption for returning to Earth. If you like Don Bluth, be a smidgen more cautious. If you're anyone else, even a dog lover, you aren't missing too much by skipping over this film, especially considering The Little Mermaid premiered on the same day. I'm not one to recommend this film, but I'm not one to recommend completely bypassing it either. It's a shame, though, that Bluth would have to work 8 more years before getting another actually worthwhile film.

Some animated movies we grow to love as kids. Others we don't get an opportunity to see until we're much older. With this movie, I fall in that second category at the age of 24. To be honest, I don't mind having missed this as a kid, but that doesn't automatically make it a bad thing. I've seen better and worse than this as far as animated movies go.All Dogs Go To Heaven is a movie heavily centered on dogs, like The Secret of NIMH for mice and rats, Legend of the Guardians for owls, Finding Nemo for aquatic life, and Madagascar for a lion, zebra, hippopotamus, giraffe, and a group of military penguins. The main protagonist is Charlie, a happy-go-lucky carefree dog who goes through a plot I've seen before, done better and done worse. His plot is one of change, as in, he must change who he is to become something better. He does this through a little girl named Anne-Marie, who is actually a lost girl, but also smart and kind. To see such a change with Charlie through this little girl is heart-warming, but there were some parts about it that were cringe-worthy, so it wasn't all perfect.Then there's Carface, the villain. From the beginning, he really is more annoying and stupid than anything else. He makes harsh decisions for making the sake of making harsh decisions, he is a hypocrite, and he never thinks, blaming his stupidity on his subjects. His motives, or lack thereof, make him a lazily written villain and so Carface easily becomes my biggest gripe about the movie. However, the rest of the cast more than make up for Carface's shortcomings.The jokes and songs don't always land, but when they do, and they do often, it helps the plot of the movie and also make it better in itself. There sad scenes in the film were heartfelt and genuine, so it works. Being Judith Barsi's final film, the fact that the film dedicated so much to her memory, including the ending theme, was a very nice homage and I'm sure she is feeling honored watching this in Heaven even to this day.I wish I could give this film a higher rating, but Carface as a villain is a problem I cannot overlook and there were parts of the film I felt dry, so I'm stuck with giving it a 7. But it is still a good movie and worth a watch.

It's a real shame that this was essentially the end of Don Bluth's steak as a great director of animation, going from animation classics such as Secret of Nimh to rather oddly created ones like Rock-a-Doodle. The thing that makes this film a children's classic is a mixture of Atmosphere, Character, Brilliant animation and Plot. You'd think a film about a dog that has conned his way into a second chance at life to claim his revenge would be a rather single minded plot like similar films of that context, but in fact, this film is unique in the way it executes this. The ending is my most memorable part of this movie, how for a moment Charlie comes back from the ether to give his final goodbye to Anne-Marie and his faithful companion Itchy before he has to finally disappear into the night to face his fear. It's a real tear jerker that comes about with many people who have witnessed death first hand, with visions in the night and visits from anon, it's something you can relate to and I feel it is the best way to conclude such a magnificent film.Another point with the film is that it adds a bit of Noire to it, tales of conning, murder and other threatening themes does make this movie different from most mushy kid films which try to dampen down the violence and other adult themes to the point of non-existence. Here Bluth has taken it almost to the limit of the PG rating but does it in a way that makes it acceptable. Also there are some really good musical numbers in here which (if you've watched Bluth's later works), are probably his last. Overall, this film is a grand piece of work and a real high note for a great animation director, although what followed next was much more disappointing. But as long as Bluth's better years as a director are summed up with films like this and Secret of Nimh, then the useless films that followed can be put in the cellar with the rest of those bad movies.