Kaleidoscope Home Entertainment
VOD Release Date: July 15, 2024 (UK), TBA (USA)
I’m not sure if this is a fair assessment, but it seems the entertainment industry in Germany is more open to continue certain iconic properties which lost their stride after the 70s. Whether that’s with The Three Investigators or Lassie, what I’m enjoying from Lassie: A New Adventure is that it does something new I’m fairly sure I haven’t seen before. I have some recall about those classics that played on television a long time ago, and to mix it up with a heist makes for some good action.
Back then, those classics simply concerned a boy and his best friend getting separated. Whether that’s by design or some other circumstance, they’d find each other, hug and we have that happy ending. Although the writing was quite formulaic, most kids didn’t care and just enjoyed the wholesome fun that these works represented.
In this latest outing, all of that charm is well-preserved. Life goes on. The family is visiting Gran Canaria and everything seems fine. Flo (Nico Marischka) makes new friends, Kleo (Anna Lucia Gualano) and Henri (Pelle Staacken), and all is good until various pets disappear. Pretty soon, this trio go poking their nose around, and when Lassie and Pippa get taken, they’re on the case! I’m rather glad this film is not dependent on the familiar. To get them involved in a case like sleuths makes for a better sequel.
Ultimately, the thieves are not so smart. When they’re seen asking if those dogs are purebreds or not, it’s easy to be suspicious of them. Their plan is to kidnap and sell them in some black market. But as for who can outsmart who depends on which mammal is the more intelligent of the species. This misfit brother and sister duo provides more comic relief than anything. else, and when I see them it’s easy to tell they’re up to no good!
photo: Bernd Spauke
Although the dubbing doesn’t always match the performances on screen, a little suspension of belief is required. Had what’s offered to screen in advance included the original audio track with subtitles, I’d be watching that instead. When the latest German made Three Investigators (Descent of the Dragon) got released, I didn’t care if such a track existed. I picked it up through eBay because it was there, and as a long time fan, accepted that creation warts and all. The same can be said for this Lassie film; I rather liked this new take, even though the foreign backgrounds distract from a few moments where it tries to be “American.”
Ultimately, Director Hanno Oldierssen‘s goal is to pay homage rather than to create anything new. Because the sets indicate a European setting, I don’t think anything is necessarily lost in the translation. This work is a follow-up from the 2020 remake of Lassie Come Home, and I’m glad he’s offering continuity rather than one-offs. I’m hopeful an American-side issue will soon arrive. It would be nice to see these works offered here rather than limited to International markets. Ultimately, that’s up to the distributors to decide.
3 Stars out of 5
Lassie A New Adventure Movie Trailer
