Red Dog: True Blue

I confess, I was willingly suckered into it.

As an original Boys Own adventure, the film succeeds in painting a vividly nostalgic, if necessarily episodic, picture of an old-fashioned European Australian outback experience of sturdy men in a hard land.

The coming-of-age elements pull it into a softer, less contrived and more affecting space, which is ultimately where this very rewarding journey resides.

A final warning: if you don't have a dog, and you take kids to see it, you may come under a lot of pressure to acquire one.

Coming-of-age tale has mild action and peril.

It's pleasant, fun, funny and, of course, looks absolutely beautiful. The one thing you've got to say about the Australian Outback: it gives filmmakers great sky.

The result is big, broad family-friendly fun; a good-looking but uneven story with moments of inspired craziness.

Though True Blue comes up slightly short in every department when compared to its irresistible predecessor, there is no real shame in that.

I did not expect the Red Dog series to take its cues from The Human Centipede saga, which broke the fourth wall in the exact same manner with its second instalment, yet here we are.

There's no doubting the feel-good terrain Red Dog: True Blue is playing in.