Heartwarming sequel 'A Dog's Journey' proves that some friendships transcend lifetimes

Review Rating:

The epitome of an emotional family drama, if you are a family with a pet then this is one for you.

A third entry in the series, ‘A Dog’s Journey’ doesn’t stray too far from everything we’ve already seen before in ‘A Dog’s Purpose’ and ‘A Dog’s Way Home’. Having said that, this sequel is decidedly darker in tone, and heavy on the drama, but nonetheless a pleasant watch. 

‘A Dog’s Journey’, like the two other previous releases, is based on W. Bruce Cameron’s novel of the same name. This movie follows the concept of one dog’s consciousness living on after passing away, essentially being reincarnated into another dog’s body. And hell, the dogs are just so cute and endearing, you’re totally going to believe it and will forever look at your pet dog differently from now on. 

Starring Dennis Quaid, with Josh Gad as the voice of Bailey the dog, the movie is an emotional rollercoaster from start to finish. Dealing with such heavy topics as a neglectful parent, grieving after a loss, and family members living far away from each-other, the laughs in the movie come primarily from Gad’s stellar voice acting (which you might recognise from playing Olaf in Disney’s ‘Frozen’). His voice-over of each of the reincarnated dogs is easily the best part of the movie, and children will love the antics each of the dogs get up to. As we’ve said before, you may well look at your dog differently after seeing ‘A Dog’s Journey’, especially if their running commentary sounds just like the internal monologue of Bailey.  

While the certificate of ‘A Dog’s Journey’ is PG, there’s quite a lot of emotional moments throughout, and ones which might be quite heavy for some children out there. The epitome of an emotional family drama, if you are a family with a pet then this is one for you. Or if you’re looking to eventually have a dog in the family further down the line, this will be the movie to persuade you to do so.