Sounds like a hero to me.
Since his deployment, Kyle Wincott (Robbie Amell) has had military dog Max work with him in Afghanistan. One day, during an ambush, Kyle is killed. Following Kyle's funeral, Max is shipped to a dog shelter. He starts to develop signs of PTSD, and the military shelter ponders putting him down. Kyle's family then decides to adopt Max, with primary caretaking responsibility falling on younger sibling Justin (Josh Wiggins). Originally hesitant to taking care of the dog, Justin soon starts to warm up to the dog. Meanwhile, a close friend and fellow marine of Kyle's comes home unexpectedly and immediately draws suspicions from both Max and Justin.
The actors do a fine job. Wiggins does good with what he's given to work with, even if his personality may not seem too different from the typical teenager depicted in movies. Lauren Graham and Thomas Haden Church play the parents, and while the former doesn't have a lot to work with, she takes what she's given and adds some charm to it. And she also delivers one of the best lines of the movie early on. Church is emotionally sincere and convincing, though personally, this isn't my favorite performance he's done in comparison to a few other movies he's done. Luke Klientank makes an interesting villain, while Dejon LaQuake and Mia Xitlali add some interesting panache as cousins Chuy and Carmen. Xitlali and Wiggins have some solid chemistry also. The overall cultural diversity in the cast was a nice choice by the production team, and the diversity is nicely-represented without being too stereotypical.
The action scenes were well-shot and well-executed. A few minor visual effects in the climax action scene add an interesting level of suspense. Trevor Rabin's music score further heightens these scenes, and adds a bit to the heartfelt scenes also. A few moments of solid humor. Other production values are more adequate. Some solid messages on honesty, modesty, the importance of love and family, and self-sacrifice and heroism.
On the downside, one plot point is relatively unclear throughout the film (despite some hints I may have missed). The villain's plan slowly comes into the light, but how Kyle was killed, whether if it was by the villain of the story or not, remains unclear. My grandmother (who I saw it with) assumed that he was killed by the villain, but no one even says in response later in the film, "You killed Kyle! You killed my brother!" in the movie. Its not a major problem, but it creates a small hole in the plot. I also felt the teenage slang was overused, which may cause some confusion for younger kids and older parents/grandparents watching.
The world is supposedly growing more and more cynical. As is such, today's generation doesn't seem interested in the kid-and-animal bonding movies that once were so common during the 90's and early-2000's. In fact, it was even more common before then with Lassie, Benji and Rin-tin-tin among the most famous kid-and-dog bonding stories. With the exception of the Dolphin Tale movies, this now old-fashioned family style of filmmaking has all but disappeared.
And that's what made me excited to see Max. It brings back a whimsical, nostalgic style of storytelling that made Air Bud, Flipper, Free Willy, Because of Winn Dixie and many others memorable. And, truth be told, Max feels at least close to as heartwarming and down-at-home as those other titles. But there's also hints of something different and more modern present here too.
The boy seen here is, a video game hacker. DVDs and headphones are used. Social media even makes an appearance. In that case, Max also brings in some modern sensibilities, without overusing them. But just as we get the occasional reminder that we are in 2015, the old-fashioned feel from the rest of the film never seems to disappear.
One other interesting and different aspect of Max is that the military (the Marines in particular) have strong involvement in this film. And during the end credits and in many scenes during the film, director and writer Boaz Yakin gives much-needed respect and honor to humans and animals currently serving (and those that have served) their country. The military aspect can bring in some sophisticated concepts at times, but it also brings more excitement and originality to some overly-familiar story tropes.
It has a few script-related issues. But overall, while not the best dog movie to grace the silver screen, Max is still an entertaining, heartfelt and very solid film for families to see together. (Oh, and my grandmother loved it!)
Score: 7.6/10
Content Problems Families Should Be Aware Of:
Language: Not much. We hear one use each of "I'll be d---ed" (some may miss it though), "h---" (in a non-profane context), "friggin" (the person who uses it is rebuked) and "screw". Justin utters "oh my g--" under his breath once or twice.
Adult Content: One or two brief kisses.
Violence: A couple of scenes that push the PG rating slightly. Kyle and his military buddies are ambushed by bombs and rapid gunfire. Dust flies everywhere. People are held at gunpoint several times. One person is knocked out a couple of times. Justin's dad mentions his leg injury a handful of times. Max and another person fall off a bridge. Justin falls onto the bridge and is apparently injured. Stolen weapons fire off unexpectedly for a little long, causing loud noises and narrowly missing everyone in the scene. Max gets into a dogfight twice, with some snarling and biting heard. Max knocks a dog into a river, and cripples another one (offscreen). Justin falls off his bike. Some dangerous stunts.
Drugs/Alcohol: A marine takes out an alcohol container. A beer is taken out by Mr. Wincott and offers one to a fellow employee (but none are consumed on-screen).
Other: Justin is stealing unreleased video games on the web and selling them. Criminals steal and sell unused weapons. One other character lies repeatedly.
