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.