THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, April 4, 1996 TAG: 9604040034
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, MOVIE CRITIC
LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines
ERNEST BORGNINE'S singing is perhaps the only really unique part of the repetitive ``All Dogs Go to Heaven 2.'' Borgnine has not usually been associated with things musical.
As Carface, a bulldog who should never have gotten into heaven in the first place, Borgnine does a duet with George Hearn, who plays a Satan-like cat named Red.
This sequel to the 1989 original has Charlie Barkin, a streetwise mutt, returning from heaven in an effort to retrieve Gabriel's horn. Without it, the gates of heaven can not open. Carface and Red, on the other hand, want to snag the horn because it also can be used to open bank vaults.
When you think about it, which no 4-year-old will, the script plays recklessly loose with some very basic existential ideas on religion and philosophy.
In the first film, Charlie (who then had the voice of Burt Reynolds but now is voiced by Charlie Sheen) was killed in a Louisiana nightclub by Carface and then got a chance to come back from heaven for revenge.
Charlie now finds heaven a bit of a bore. Volunteering for a trip to San Francisco, he falls in love with French singer Sasha La Fleur (voice of Sheena Easton).
MGM has released this animated feature in theaters only as a quick stopover before hunting video bucks.
Adding to the bad luck for these doggies, the Disney empire re-released ``Oliver and Company'' the same week. Disney animation, in addition to being technically and imaginatively superior, has a marketing campaign that is awesome.
The animation in ``All Dogs'' is only marginally better than Saturday morning cartoons. The backgrounds are particular pallid. Work on this film took place in such varied locations as Taiwan, Taipei, Toronto, Copenhagen, London, Dublin and Bangkok. Small wonder that an overall look of unity is missing.
The songs are as bland as the rambling little plot. Only the ballad ``I Will Always Be With You'' has much chance of being heard beyond the film. ``Easy Street'' seems like a literal borrowing from the Broadway show ``Annie.''
Chances are that none of this carping will bother the 4-year-olds who go to see the movie. It's not on the same level with ``Oliver & Company,'' but as a second feature for the out-of-school spring break, it's OK.
But the title does bring up a troublesome quandary. If all dogs go to heaven, are all angels issued pooper scoopers? ILLUSTRATION: Photo by METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER
Trying to keep Charlie, the canine hero of ``All Dogs Go to Heaven
2,'' from returning to Earth from heaven is his sidekick Itchy.
by CNB