In some ways, the Lassie films are like the canine answer to the James Bond series. Both have literary antecedents, both have been big screen successes for MGM, and the basic formula remains essentially the same: a hero saves the day. The equivalent of Sean Connery is probably Pal, the rough collie dog who portrayed Lassie in seven feature films in the 1940s and 1950s. In Lassie: A New Adventure, Lassie is played by Bandit, who brings what is needed to the role, in a slick, handsome, functional way that suggests the Lassie franchise is perhaps in its Pierce Brosnan era, though unfortunately more Die Another Day doldrums than GoldenEye high point.
It bears mentioning at this point that the film is more properly titled Lassie – Ein Neues Abenteuer; this is a German production which has been fairly obviously dubbed into English, with the same director (Hanno Olderdissen) and human lead actor (Nico Marischka) as Lassie Come Home from 2020, also a German production. The premise is simple and straightforward: a nefarious couple have been pinching pooches, the aim of their dognapping operation being to auction off the luckless hounds to the highest bidder. When Lassie’s pal Pippa is snatched, Lassie deploys the time-honoured strategy of deliberately getting captured, and everything works out exactly as you might expect; this is not a film interested in surprising the viewer, and is very much made with younger audiences in mind.
As far as that goes, it’s a wholesome enough way to pass 90 minutes, though depending on how media-saturated the family viewers in question are, it may feel rather quaint and old-fashioned. Compared to savvier family fare available (see: The Mitchells vs the Machines, the recent Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, or even the existential dread of Puss in Boots: The Last Wish), it is all incredibly well behaved, with the human characters failing to offer much interest, despite a well-meaning arc about foster care, and some game performances from the villains. Perhaps it’s time for Lassie to explore a Daniel Craig-era pivot to a slightly more sophisticated offering.
• Lassie: A New Adventure is in UK cinemas from 3 May
