On the battlefield, it’s not just humans and machines...
You’re watching Beyond The Trailer’s review of Max...
Air Bud is one of Disney’s most successful franchises due to its incredibly high profit
margin - cheap to make, almost all profit. But dogs don’t actually play sports. They
do, however, fight wars. Yes, not only do the Marines use dogs on the Battlefield, but
dogs have been used in warfare since Ancient Egypt! While primarily used as guards, dogs
were sometimes used to attack enemy soldiers - especially those on horseback! Dogs were
even outfitted with their own version of armor. Today, they still wear special body armor!
And in 2011, a Military Working Dog - their official title when serving with the US Marines
- was part of Operation Neptune Spear where Osama bin Laden was located and killed. The
Belgian Malinois, named Cairo, was there to find hidden rooms and doors, as well as deter
and delay any Pakistani forces who might come to Bin Laden’s aid. Cairo is one of five
hundred and thirty dogs currently in active duty. And there’s one dog that has a story
very similar to Max’s. LEX was a real dog serving in the Iraq war when, in 2007, he
and his handler Dustin J Lee came under attack. Lee was mortally wounded while Lex also was
wounded, yet he refused to leave Lee’s side and had to ultimately be dragged away by other
military servicemen and personnel. While Lex recovered and was able to return to duty,
Lee’s parents submitted a request to adopt him, which gained national attention. Finally,
at the end of the same year that their son was killed in Iraq, the US Marines officially
released Lex to the Lees. So while this movie might take a few Hollywood liberties, at its
soul it does represent real life humans and dogs who put their lives on the line for their
country, and forge bonds as strong as those between human soldiers. And Max has a solid
Hollywood pedigree as well, written and directed by Boaz Yakin who previously directed Remember
the Titans and Uptown Girls, as well as co-wrote Now You See Me. It also stars Thomas Haden
Church, Lauren Graham, and newcomer Josh Wiggins - as well as Robbie Amell, cousin of Stephen Amell
hot off of the CW’s DC shows as well as The DUFF.
So while yeah, the Air Bud movies are a lot of fun,
in the same year as mega-hit American Sniper,
can Warner Bros offer a more meaningful alternative?