Review: “A Dog’s Purpose”

A tearjerker for dog lovers, but unoriginal

Falsely accused of animal cruelty in January before its premiere and cleared recently in February, “A Dog’s Purpose” faced heavy cutbacks in viewer attendance ever since its debut on Jan. 27. I figured I would break my own assumption of the false hashtag, watch the film and form my own review.

It is unfortunate that the movie ran into a wall right before its premiere, repelling many movie watchers. Those who did watch the film will agree that it is a tear-jerking movie for any dog-lover.

Universal Pictures publicized their trailer in August 2016, introducing a story line between a high schooler and his loyal dog. However, five months later, right before its premiere, a cell phone video surfaced on social media targeting the film, with “#movieanimalcruelty” accompanying it.

Many, including myself, cancelled plans to watch it and turned to other movies instead.

From January to February, crew members were investigated for animal cruelty charges and were cleared of accusations in February.

I have never owned a dog, but I am definitely a dog-lover. I will gladly give any corgi on the street 5 minutes of my day.

However, although the movie powerfully evokes several emotions, “A Dog’s Purpose” is cliche. Most of the scenes are too cheesy or similar to other movies for my taste.

“A Dog’s Purpose” has the typical scenes that other dog movies have. Dog is abandoned and picked up? Check. Dog accidentally causes a mess in the house? Check. Dog’s health deteriorates? Check. Dog is euthanized somewhere in the plot? Check. Dramatic transitions? Check.

Sidenote: why bubbles? You do you, editors.

There was nothing particularly different about “A Dog’s Purpose” aside from the cool fetching trick that the dog does by vaulting off of its owner’s back to catch a flat football, but that’s it. Nothing different. It’s like any other dog movie.

Although it was a movie that was up to par with other dog movies, it did not excel expectations. No unique factor came into play. However, if you are a dog-lover and you are looking for a movie like “Marley and Me” that will make you cry, you found it.