Very few live-action kids' movies are what I'd call "amazing." ("Babe" would be an example of one that is.) So since I spend a lot of time as a dad watching a lot of mediocre kids films, I have learned to prepare myself to be mostly underwhelmed or, at least, to accept these movies for what they are. I know, in other words, that I am not the target audience for these movies. They weren't made for me.
That said, HOTEL FOR DOGS falls into the category of being quite tolerable for a children's film. If you love dogs, I'm not sure how you couldn't appreciate the film. The dogs are better actors than the majority of the humans in the movie (except for maybe Don Cheadle...how in the hell did they get HIM in here?).
The story is insanely removed from plausability, but my daughter, for one, bought it so much that she's seen the film three times now. In it, two orphans find no satisfaction in their foster care situations and create their own family -- mostly out of dogs. I'm over-simplifying a bit here, but not by much. The simpatico of a well-placed, abandoned hotel allows the kids to play house, or in this case, doggy hotel.
You've got your requisite bad guys, your requisite clueless adults, your adorable animals and fantastic action sequences. What more could you ask for in a kids' movie? You've even got a great speech by Cheadle at the end that is barely a veiled plea for all of us to head straight from watching the movie to an animal shelter. If I could be guaranteed that the dog I'd pick up would be as awesome as some of the dogs in this movie, I just might consider it. For what it aims to be, "Hotel For Dogs" does the trick. It's perfectly pleasant, and you gotta love those dogs!
2.5 out of 4
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