Let me get this straight - Air Bud 3 was worse than this? I've only seen 1, 2 and 4. Well I'll definately be giving 3 a miss.
I can't understand how anyone could say that there is little difference between the first Air Bud and this movie. The original was a good family film with good acting and production values, good pacing and tension - Ok, nothing out of the ordinary - not the Schindler's List of dog movies, but perfectly respectable for a lowish budget live action family film.
Air Bud 4 on the other hand, though it still has respectable production values, features indifferent acting at best, a plot that is really getting tired, some utterly stupid, ludicrous characters - particularly the villains - almost no decent sporting scenes involving Bud, and worst of all, really, really, REALLY bad pacing towards the end of the movie. The 'climax' is so limp it's embarressing. Let's just say that the means by which the bad guy's plot is foiled is so utterly devoid of dramatic tension that it defies belief. Then we get an ending which uses a stock plot device whch has been used to tremendous effect in plenty of movies - but here it's just boring. The timing, the pacing is all wrong. The movie has all the hallmarks of a production crew who just don't really care about what they're doing, and in a family movie, that's really a big mistake.
I have no problems with suspending disbelief. All the people who are harping on about how Buddy must be 13 now, and how can a dog do this and that - go watch a nature documentary if you want realism. This is a fantasy. It's problems aren't with the improbable story, they're with the insipid way it's told.
I'm going to rent the original again. I'm sure it will seem like a masterpiece after this.
