Space Dogs: Return To Earth (U)

Valiant dogstronaughts Belka and Strelka are ordered to terminate their current sample-gathering mission on an ice moon of Saturn and return to Earth investigate an anomaly in the Atlantic Ocean. A giant whirlpool has appeared and poses a threat to furry and feathered residents of the tropics. As Belka and Strelka pilot their spacecraft close to the column of swirling aqua, they are struck by lightning and plummet into the ocean where an epic new adventure begins.

LondonNet Film Review
Space Dogs: Return To Earth (U)

Director Inna Evlannikova teaches old dogs newish tricks in the third computer-animated chapter of the Space Dogs saga, which originally took flight in 2010. Bolted together in Russia then dubbed into English, Space Dogs: Return To Earth blasts off for an out of this world adventure that seldom escapes the gravitational pull of a pedestrian plot and solid, unremarkable visuals. What the animation might lack in sophistication and realistic detail, especially when the action takes to water, it makes up for in bright, summery colours that cast a warming glow as temperatures plummet outside…

A script credited to five screenwriters trades in gentle, inoffensive humour that should appeal to very young audiences. When a naive rat spots an approaching ship flying a skull and crossbones flag, he innocently remarks, “I think they’re archaeologists”, and googly-eyed, treasure-seeking jellyfish tunefully introduce themselves as “pirates who can sing and make you itch”. Any snorts from adults are most likely whinnying snores. Manifold subplots involving the misadventures of an enterprising rat lack an emotional pay off and ultimately feel like padding to bloat the running time to 80 minutes.

Valiant dogstronaughts Belka (voiced by Maria Antonieta Monge) and Strelka (Mauriett Chayeb) are ordered to terminate their current sample-gathering mission on an ice moon of Saturn and return to Earth. “Deliver the samples to me unscathed. Your tails are on the line,” demands their commanding officer. The plucky duo are requested to investigate an anomaly in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Cuba, which poses a threat to furry and feathered residents of the tropics. According to scientific data, the giant whirlpool will swallow the water of the Atlantic in less than three days.

Belka and Strelka pilot their spacecraft close to the column of swirling aqua and are struck by lightning. The plucky pooches plummet into the ocean where they discover the source of the disturbance: a submerged alien spacecraft manned by an elephantine creature named by Pumbary (Oscar Cheda) and armed guard Croakagy (Jason Michael Kesser). Meanwhile, Belka and Strelka’s old friend Lenny the rat (Alexander Machado) and his cricket sidekick Thomas (Romulo A Bernal) arrive in Cuba just as disaster strikes. They seek out the rodent’s seafaring uncle, Jonas (Christopher Leigh Jahn), to escape the eye of the gathering storm.

Space Dogs: Return To Earth idles into first gear with an opening set-piece involving intergalactic ice monsters and maintains the same pace as events unfold above and below the waves. Some of the vocal performances merge in pitch and tone though thankfully, Evlannikova’s picture is light on meaningful dialogue so there’s never any danger of a key plot point being waylaid.

– Jo Planter