Dakota’s review, a family film centered on the incredible friendship between a wolf dog who “served” on the battlefield and a fatherless girl. Tonight on Sky.
Little Alex was recently orphaned of her father, a US Army soldier who lost his life in Afghanistan, and now lives with her mother Kate on the family farm. The property is facing a period of deep crisis and is full of debts with the banks, as well as has attracted the interest of the local sheriff, who intends to get his hands on it at any cost, both by hook and legally or by crooks : the man of the law is in fact aware of a secret that could totally change the valuation of those lands.
As we tell you in the review of Dakota, Alex and Kate receive a visit one day from Sergeant CJ Malcolm, a fellow soldier who decided to pay them homage in memory of the fallen and brought with him the wolf dog Dakota, employed by the US forces: a real soldier dog who he was very close to his old master and who is now becoming more and more attached to Alex. Just the presence of the animal will prove crucial when the sheriff decides to go the hard way …
The banality fair
It is no coincidence that he is known as “man’s best friend” and cinema often reminds us of this with dozens of themed productions where the dog is the central element of the story, often decisive when the situation for his human friends threatens to put on the worst. AND Dakota it is no exception in proposing a story within the usual canons, under the banner of one of the many productions designed for a Sunday afternoon family audience. In fact, we are faced with an elementary film, full of rhetoric and good feelings in the best/worst tradition of the genre, devoid of any jolts that could derail the story from those pre-established tracks. Habitual atmospheres those of the provincial town where the dynamics are triggered, with the classic fight between good guys and bad guys to characterize the hour and a half of vision.
Zack dog hero, the review: the friendship between a child and a dog in the drama of war
Fires in the pan
Villains here embodied even by those who should enforce the law and the presence of Patrick Muldoon, historical face of Melrose Place as well as among the protagonists of the sci-fi cult Starship Troopers – Space Infantry (1997), is perhaps the most interesting in an otherwise anonymous cast, with William Baldwin as a guest-star in the guise of his grandfather. The latter was not a random choice, as the actor had played the role of a brave firefighter in the classic Killer fire (1991) and here the character of his daughter is a firefighter: a reference that was certainly evaluated and wanted in the casting and screenplay phase. But apart from these curiosities, Dakota can’t boast of actual ideas such as to attract the attention of a savvy public, probably reluctant to yet another story of friendship between a little girl and a dog. The script even then dares to unintentionally ridiculous choices when it shows us flashbacks of the animal and the soldier claims that he suffers from post traumatic stress from what he saw on the battlefield.
Dog that barks, does not bite
And so we are witnessing increasingly improbable scenes, from the cat that is saved at the last second after a daring fall from a tree to the villain who attracts Dakota with an ice cream, up to those diamonds that forcibly move the narrative machine towards that whirlwind of increasingly improbable and random events. The lightness of the operation, hinted at from the outset, cannot in any case justify several more than obvious naiveties and the most obvious of happy endings only confirms what has just been expressed. On balance, the film remains a vision conceived exclusively for a limited target and with an eye to the audience of very young people, but even in this case there are many more compelling themed titles even from a relatively recent era, without necessarily having to bother with the imperishable classics of the eighties.
Conclusions
A soldier dog who experienced the horrors of the war in Afghanistan on his own fur is adopted by the family of his previous owner, an army officer who died on the front, and becomes particularly fond of his daughter, little Alex. The animal will be decisive when the land they own ends up in the crosshairs of a corrupt sheriff, ready to do anything to get his hands on it. As we told you in Dakota’s review, we are faced with an adventurous comedy for the whole family, focused on the bond created between the girl protagonist and the courageous and cunning four-legged friend. In the hour and a half of viewing, while not lacking moments of sympathy also due to a couple of well-chosen casting choices, various ingenuities in the management of the story and the protagonists are highlighted, up to the most predictable of epilogues.
Because we like it
- The cast has a couple of right faces in the right place.
What’s wrong
- The screenplay is too naive and forced and at times falls into the ridiculous.
- Cheap emotions, in the wake of the classic Sunday afternoon television productions.
