aileencorcoran
"All Dogs go to Heaven" (Bluth, 1989, MGM/UA) is one of my favourite animated films of all time. Bluth is a genius, already kicking all kinds of balls in the animation genre before Disney did. I love Disney, but Bluth has some BIG cahones; dogs drinking, gambling and double-crossing each other, rats made super intelligent by animal testing, a young orphaned dinosaur leading his friends to Utopia while grieving the death of his mother. Heck, even "Anastasia" (a film I love by the way), took risks for just existing, and that was Bluth's attempt at being Disney! Yet, it is not only Disney that has suffered the rath of the unneeded sequel. 90% of Bluth's movies have had sequels, TV shows or both adapted from them, ALL without his input. Except for "Bartok: The Magnificent." "The Land Before Time" is the most known example, with 12 sequels and a show, and another sequel coming riding on the tailcoat of "Jurassic World." Many people of the 80s and 90s are aware of the "American Tail" franchise. Ditto "Secret of NIMH 2." Then there's the "All Dogs go to Heaven" franchise.OK, most people know there's a sequel, but there was also an Emmy winning show and TV movie. Also, a really fun PC game. Judge me.Why? Why do Bluth movies get exploited like this? I mean, I love Bluth and his work, but his movies weren't critical babies until "Anastasia" came along. I mean, they were well received, but made little money EXCEPT on home video... oh.ADGTH was one of the highest earning home video releases at the time, so it makes sense that somebody would take this unique little gem and milk all of its heavenly cloud juice. However, is the sequel, appropriately titled "All Dogs go to Heaven 2," with "Charlie's New Adventure" added in some cases, really bad? In my opinion... no. It's OK. Not great, but watchable.The story starts off in Heaven where we see Carface (Ernest Borginine) having a shady phone conversation, before heading off to the Guardian Angel crowning thingy for perfect angels. Here we see Charlie (Charlie Sheen), the lovable rogue who redeemed himself by putting a little girl's life before his own. In a clever allusion to the song "Let Me Be Surprised," Charlie exclaims he's bored with Heaven. When his best friend, Itchy (Dom DeLuise) arrives in the afterlife, he bemoans his boring angelic life. So it makes perfect sense when Gabriel's Horn falls from Heaven, that he (and a reluctant Itchy) volunteer to retrieve it.So after once again conning the Heavenly Whippet, who now has a name and is stupid as heck (Bebe Neuwirth), Charlie and Itchy are sent to Earth as ghosts to find the Horn, which has fallen because Carface, who for some reason got a medal for being top notch angel earlier, made a deal with devil-cat Red (George Hearn), who wants the Horn to open the Pearly Gates so he can capture all of Heaven's dogs and lock them in Alcatraz so he can make Heaven Hell, I guess? Charlie and Itchy end up at a club where Charlie is smitten with smexy Irish Setter, Sasha LeFlur (Sheena Easton). Being the Casanova that he is, Charlie attempts to put the moves on her, only he can't, because he's a ghost. So Charlie and Itchy meet Carface, who they don't know is still evil, find out he got a life collar from a friend, which, well, makes him alive. Cool concept. Charlie, despite Itchy's reservations, goes to this friend, gets them both a collar, and goes to swoon over Sasha, before the collar's power wears out the next day. Of course, the friend is Red disguised as a dog, who is going to use the collar to control Charlie into leading him to the Horn. Oh, and the Horn is forgotten... for now.As it turns out, Sasha is not interested in Shepherds and is looking after a runaway boy named David (Adam Wylie), who is feeling understandably gypped because his dad and stepmom are having a baby. So he runs off to become a magician. David thinks Charlie is his guardian angel, so Charlie, in order to impress his new boo, plays along. So in between looking for the Horn, helping the kid do magic tricks and getting him back home, defeating the evil devil cat thing and falling in love, plenty of stuff goes down.It's all entertaining enough, the acting and music are good, pretty damn good actually. The animation isn't as polished as the original, but it's serviceable for a sequel, despite the NUMEROUS errors. Carface is now a pansy, which sucks, but Red is fun enough. Itchy is still funny. Even though Sheen can't replace a role literally made for Burt Reynolds in mind, he does a good job. The story isn't too bad either. But why, why is it set in 1996 San Francisco when the original was set on the brink of WWII in New Orleans? How did Itchy live that long? Where's Anne Marie? (I get that little Judith Barsi was murdered before the original film was released, so I guess that was a nod of respect for her). Why does the film exist other than to make money? Why does Charlie trust Carface when he MURDERED HIM IN THE FIRST MOVIE???!!!! The original had a passion quite akin to The Lion King; yeah it was risqué but we have a story to tell and God damn you if you don't like it! ADGTH 2 is harmless enough and moderately entertaining, but when compared to the gritty classic like the original it's based on, it's like comparing wet kibble to dry. This sequel ain't Heavenly, but it isn't Hell. It resides in Limbo, and that's fine too.6/10.
legnareh
If you just watched All Dogs Go To Heaven, and learn that there's a sequel, don't watch it. It's horrible. It's absolutely awful. They rush the characters to develop. Sasha, for example, begins singing about how you can count her out for love. And at the end, this seems more like a dramatic romance flick than a comedy-adventure film. They rip Charlie out of his character and replace him with a gushy, soft, but still rebellious version of himself.The humor behind Carface's character is just completely lost. He's a totally different dog. He doesn't have a cool voice anymore, he isn't that villain you love to hate anymore, he's just a wimp voiced by none other than Mermaid Man from Spongebob. Speaking of voice actors..Charlie has a completely different voice. And while it isn't horrible, I don't like it. It's terrible in comparison to the excellent job that Burt Reynolds did for the character in the first film. Dom DeLuise is wonderful as always, as Itchy. That character stays true, and that's why this film gets a 3/10. Purely because Dom DeLuise was still voicing Itchy.Oh, and my last complaint. I know Ann-Marie's movie was done and gone, she has parents now, etc, but did Charlie completely forget about her, or what? No mention at ALL of her in the second film. I mean, even a small mention from Itchy would have been acceptable. (ex. "Charlie, we have to get back. You can't take care of every kid that needs rescuing.) Or something of the sort. I mean, he died living with her, she deserves some kind of mention.Don't watch this if you're looking for a wonderful sequel.
kodyboy555
Did any remember the old characters from the original movie, "All Dogs Go To Heaven"? Now, I've heard it. They're have returned in the sequel. I was expected whom known those characters...(clears throat)....characters that do not appear in this sequel are Killer, Anne Marie, Flo and the other puppies. Killer, as we said again, later appeared in the TV series and the Christmas special. And I was on the hunt. The plot: Charlie and Itchy end up in San Francisco, then new friends....never mind. I'm not going to have it on my comic strip, Kody The Fox! Well, otherwise, I watched it at Judy's and she has the movie, I'd wish I would have the movie at my dad's, or would I rent it? The heroic fox has signed off to ALL DOGS GO TO HEAVEN 2.
