When I was a kid growing up, Benji movies were still kind of a big deal. They were innocent, wholesome family movies featuring the brave and heroic pup who has been starring in movies since 1974. But for years Benji has been relegated to straight-to-DVD land or out of the public spotlight at all, however a new reboot for Netflix could change that. Although after watching the trailer, it probably won’t.
Benji features the world’s most helpful canine (Well, Lassie might dispute that) in a new adventure with a brand new family. The orphaned pup is taken in by two New Orleans kids and brought home, much to the disapproval of their mother, an officer on the police force. However she changes her tune when Benji seems like the best shot at finding her kids when they go missing.
The film is directed by Brandon Camp, the son of Benji creator Joe Camp. Oddly enough, this is a Blumhouse production (!!!) and features Kiele Sanchez (Lost), Angus Sampson (Insidious), Gabriel Bateman (Annabelle), and Darby Camp.
Honestly, this doesn’t look very good and if Netflix hadn’t picked it up would probably be on a Walmart shelf right now. But considering how lousy Netflix movies tend to be it had a good chance of being as watchable as say, War Machine.
Benji hits Netflix on March 16th.
