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That athletic phenom of a retriever is back for his fourth movie, trying his paw at baseball this time. Disney hasn't strayed far from the franchise formula, siccing upon the poor retriever yet another set of doggie thieves--this time mad scientists who want to capture Buddy and his pups to isolate the "Super Sports Gene." The original Josh (heartthrob Kevin Zegers) is also back, only to be dispatched to college soon after the opening credits. So it's younger sister Andrea (Caitlin Wachs) who needs Buddy's help this time, as she muffs her baseball debut and suffers the benign neglect of her parents (Cynthia Stevenson and Richard Karn). As with its predecessors, this is harmless, if inane, fun. Kids and dogs are heroes; adults are mostly benevolent screw-ups. Raccoons and scientists may take issue with their portrayals, but, then again, how many scientists operate their labs out of trailer parks? Ages 4 and older. --Kimberly Heinrichs ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Complete garbage
What started off as a really inciteful piece of political satire has now just turned into another money maker sequel series. This isn't even the original Bud, because the original Bud died shortly after the first film. The original Bud would have nothing to do with this, especially the part about sharing the movie poster with a friggin raccoon.

G-rated Language?
For the most part, this is the same formula as the others and is fine for your children to watch on their own. But at one point the character of Andrea, dismayed by her non-athleticism remarks (...). Many say I'm old fashioned for considering this a swear word, but I have no desire to hear my 3 or 5 year old repeat that phrase.

Best of the Sequels
It can be hard to generate sequels to a movie that was based on a true story. The original movie starred Air Bud, a real golden retriever with 20,000 career baskets. Unfortunately the read Buddy lost a leg shortly after the film was made.

In this sequel, the storyline returns to some real issues and not just silliness. Josh's oldest sister (his only full sibling) must deal with Josh going away to college. Josh promises to return, but it is hard for her, especially when his old room begins being remade for the new baby. Andrea's old life from her parents seems to be being swept away by the new life with step-father and half sibling.

But Andrea has other problems. She has just entered junior high with her best friend and they try to fit in by joining an activity. Unfortunately they are hopeless at most everything until they try baseball. Andrea's friend Tammy has real talent but Andrea just doesn't know what to do. Tammy only agrees to be on the team if Andrea is on it as well. This means that Andrea does a lot of bench warming.

But when Tammy is injured Andrea if forced into play and helps the team lose game after game. She then finds out that the coach didn't want her on the team originally.

Buddy to the rescue! Buddy helps Andrea by getting her to practice. Andrea funnels her anger into intensive practice and refuses to give up. Eventually she begins to catch and hit. More and more practice and she becomes a decent player.

Of course this wouldn't be an Air Bud movie if Buddy didn't suit up and play. Seeing Buddy holding a bat is one of the most unbelievable things in the movie. Sorry, just couldn't handle that one (although I can believe his catching ability).

The other major downer in the movie is the way Andrea's parents behave. I can accept them being less attentive due to the new baby buy they seem so unconcerned when Andrea goes missing (although not as bas as when Josh goes missing in the previous movie).

Tension is added to the film by a Horace and Jasper type team who are out to abduct Buddy and his kids (there are only four instead of six like in the previous movie) in an attempt to discover the sports gene and its secrets. Their bumbling efforts are offset by an even more bumbling sheriff in the silliest cowboy hat seen in a long time.

I have to say that I rank the original Air Bud as the best of the films, followed by Seventh Inning Stretch and then World Pup. I don't think the rest are worth ranking.

Too bad there isn't a negative star rating ...
I endured this one at the behest of my 6-year-old. The Air Bud series should have been put to sleep a long time ago. As in just about every other Disney movie, this one continues the tradition of portraying adults as moronic buffoons, while the kids are the wise ones. The plot is stale, the "funny" parts are as corny as they can get. Give me back my 87 minutes, please!!

Laughable Disgrace of a Movie
Okay, I didn't like the first Air Bud film, or the second. This film, however, doesn't deserve the name "Disney" any more than Air Bud deserves to be referred to as a Dachshund. Disney owes it to the movie watching audience to put Air Bud to an eternal sleep. ... Read more