The Film
"You may lick the bride."
Yes, Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2 starts off with a dog wedding. It's a huge, extravagant affair that Kate Middleton could only dream about -- if she dreams about having dogs licking out of champagne glasses on her big day.
That scene pretty much sets the tone for Disney's direct-to-video sequel. See, it's ridiculous. It's even more ridiculous than the first movie, and that's really saying something.
George Lopez is the only one to return from 2008's original Beverly Hills Chihuahua. However, he's just lending his voice and cashing the checks. He's the voice of Papi, a peppy Chihuahua who is incredibly quick with the one-liners. Papi is our groom, who marries his four-legged love Chloe (Odette Yustman replaces Drew Barrymore's vocals). The two quickly have a litter of pups, which creates a new set of cute antics and pretty much doubles the cast size. Naturally, the canines' counterparts get into money troubles, and it's up to the pups to save the day. Makes sense, right?
To make things more confusing, the plot is intertwined with the occasional bit of Chihuahua 101 about how these tiny pups were once great ancient warriors. How far they have come, to star in bad sequels and be toted as handbag accessories.
Of course, the kids that enjoyed the original Beverly Hills Chihuahua will be mesmerized by the stars of this sequel. For adult audiences, however, Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2 is the human equivalent of a dog whistle.
The Picture
Disney deserves a treat for Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2's 1.78:1 transfer. That said, it's hard to not note the film's special effects. Even the cutest puppies in the world can't get away with their mouths moving the way these ones do, and it sort of cheapens an otherwise gorgeous image here. Yes, this movie looks good, which is surprising, given the release's direct-to-home route. In fact, other than the unnatural mouth movements, we were pressed to find flaws here. Colors are bold and every creature's coat appears detailed, soft and lush. All of those little furry faces are also pretty detailed and insanely expressive. The dog show is especially fun to watch, and sort of sweet.
The Sound
Despite all of the yipping and yapping, this release's DTS-HD Master Audio track doesn't offer much of an immersive experience -- unless you're a canine, of course. Our own four-legged friend went bananas during most of this movie, which was way more entertaining to watch than the movie itself. That said, the film had plenty of opportunity for ambient sounds, but instead chose to fill all of those slots with the movie's peppy, slightly overpowering soundtrack.
The Extras
This second installment has very little bark or bite when it comes to the extras. There's a music video and a little over three minutes of bloopers. Most of those are courtesy of the human stars, although there's the occasional doggie shake, sniff and/or wardrobe malfunction. This slim selection also has a 2-minute peek at Sharpay's Fabulous Adventure, which isn't a Chihuahua spin-off. Instead, it's a spin-off for Ashley Tisdale's High School Musical character.
The only other "original" extra is a game titled, "Beverly Hills Chihuahua Challenge." This features a short series of movie-based trivia questions just to see if you were actually paying attention. The questions are fairly easy, but the game itself has an incredibly slow pace. New questions and response recognition seemed to take forever on our older player (Samsung's BD-P1500). Also, after a few responses, we were treated to Papi saying something. What exactly? We may never know. The audio dropped every single time, even after a player reboot. Possibly player-specific, but certainly annoying.
Final Thoughts
The family has gotten bigger, but that doesn't make Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2 any better than the first film. Disney throws viewers a bone with a nice image, but this barely make the film watchable, let alone worth owning. If the kids need to fill some sort of Chihuahua quota, be prepared to press play and leave the room.
Product Details
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