Max 2: White House Hero is meh

Movie Title: Max 2: White House Hero

Grade: C

Rating: PG, 1 hour 25 minutes

In a Nutshell: This family-friendly flick is DOGGONE harmless fun for the kids. It’s somewhat of a sequel to the 2015 Max (2015), produced by Warner Brothers and MGM.

At the end of the movie, you get to see a bunch of cool pictures of U.S. presidents with their dogs.

Uplifting theme:

“There is no reward without risk.” – Alex (Francesca Capaldi)
Keep your promises.
Obedience, bravery
Family, friendship

Things I liked:

I love Washington, D.C. The images of those epic buildings strike patriotism into every American’s heart.
Max is a great dog. When I was growing up, everyone had a German Shepherd. You just don’t see them as often anymore as family pets.
Alex, the little Russian girl played by Francesca Capaldi, is super cute.
Beautiful countryside scenes during the river rafting trip.
I love twists, even if they’re expected.

Things I didn’t like:

None of the original Max cast or crew were involved in this sequel. That’s pretty unique for a sequel…and weird, right?
A lot of the acting is really bad, like….most of it.
I have a hard time believing that a child of the president wouldn’t think it was the coolest thing ever. The First Son does a lot of whining. It’s pretty hard to believe he’d be sent with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on his first day of public school. Both seem extremely unlikely.
Max only does a few heroic acts; otherwise, he rolls around and gets pet a lot.
As is typical for kids’ movies, the children are smarter than all of the adults.
Unimaginative dialogue.
Older kids and parents might get bored.
The script is pretty dumb.

Funny lines:

“I hope she looks good in orange.” – TJ Bennett (Zane Austin) Parents might need to explain the prison uniform reference to their kids.

Tips for parents:

No profanity whatsoever. Yay!
You might need to explain American-Russian political relations. The Russian president in the movie is a version of the manly Vladimir Putin.
People fall out of a river raft and are caught in peril.
The children are disobedient.