Today’s Prayer Focus
Copyright, Universal Pictures

A Dog's Journey

also known as “Bailey - Ein Hund kehrt zurück,” “Egy kutya négy útja,” “Juntos Para Sempre,” “Juntos Para Sempre 2,” “Tu mejor amigo: un nuevo viaje,” «Кучешки живот 2», «Собачья жизнь 2»
MPA Rating: PG-Rating (MPA) for thematic content, some peril and rude humor.
Moral Rating: not reviewed
Moviemaking Quality:
Primary Audience: • Teenage Girls • Adults
Genre: Drama Adaptation
Length: 1 hr. 48 min.
Year of Release: 2019
USA Release: May 17, 2019 (wide—3,267 theaters)
DVD: August 20, 2019
Copyright, Universal Picturesclick photos to ENLARGE
Relevant Issues

Heavy EMOTIONAL MANIPULATION used by filmmakers

GIRL-POWER themes in movies

Cancer

Young people getting cancer

Where did CANCER come from? Answer

ORIGIN OF BAD THINGS—Why are they in our world? Answer

What kind of world would you create? Answer

Reincarnation

NEW AGE MOVEMENT—What are its aims and significance? Answer

REINCARNATION—What does the God’s Word say? Answer

What is a serious danger of believing in reincarnation?

What is the FINAL JUDGMENT? and WHAT do you need to know about it? Answer

Death

What is DEATH? and WHY does it exist? Answer in the Bible

Resurrection of the dead as taught in the Bible

What is ETERNAL LIFE? Answer

What is ETERNAL DEATH? Answer

Animals

Anthropomorphizing of animals—the attribution of human characteristics, purposes or behavior to an animal—a literary device

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HUMANS AND ANIMALS—What relationship did our Creator intend when he created animals and Adam and Eve, living in the Garden of Eden? How did this relationship later change due to mankind’s sin/evil, God’s curse, and the worldwide Flood judgment?

What will the Biblical Millennium be like? Answer

What might be a dog’s purpose from our Creator’s viewpoint?

Responsibilities, joys and problems of owning a pet

Pet euthanasia

Animals in the Bible


Alcoholism / drunkenness

Meaning of life

What is the meaning of life? Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever. The Word of God, which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him. The Scriptures principally teach, what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man.

Featuring Josh GadBailey (voice)
Dennis QuaidEthan
Marg HelgenbergerHannah
Betty GilpinGloria
Henry LauTrent
Ian ChenYoung Trent
Daniela BarbosaLiesl
Kathryn PrescottC.J
Abby Ryder Fortson
See all »
Director Gail Mancuso
Producer Reliance Entertainment [India]
Alibaba Pictures Group [China]

See all »
Distributor

Watching a dog die… over and over

Here’s what the distributor says about their film: “A DOG’S JOURNEY is the story of one devoted dog who finds the meaning of his own existence through the lives of the humans he teaches to laugh and love.

Buddy is a good dog, and after searching for his purpose through several eventful lives, he is sure that he has found and fulfilled his purpose. Yet watching on as curious baby Clarity gets herself into mischief and numerous dangerous situations, he is certain that this little girl is very much in need of a dog of her own.

When Buddy is reborn (reincarnated), he realizes that he has a new lease on life and a new destiny. He is overjoyed when he is adopted by Clarity—now a vibrant but troubled teenager. But when they are suddenly separated, he is left to wonder who will take care of his girl?”

Prequel: “A Dog’s Purpose” (2017)

Based on a novel in the dog series by author W. Bruce Cameron

  • Violence: Moderate
  • Profane language: • Oh my G*d • G*d
  • Sex: Mild

Editor’s Note: Be aware that some readers of this series of fanatasy novels—and viewers of the film adaptations—have apparently been attracted into believing in the lie of REINCARNATION

  • “Now that I’ve read this book, I believe [my dog] Bo's soul had been around a long time.”
  • “This movie reaffirms my suspicions that my first dog Soupy has been reincarnated into my current pooch, also Soupy. …my heart and mind fully believes Soupy is my forever dog, even though her physical body cannot withstand longer than 15 years.”
  • “This…tale is told by a spiritual guide dog who teaches us… Bailey the dog knows the profound truths: there is no death…”

Based on the Bible, it is certain that reincarnation is a deadly lie; eternity awaits the human soul after death.

There is a real Paradise with God for the repentant believer—and a real Hell for those who reject His offer of salvation. God judges who will ultimately go to each after their death at the Final Judgment. The Satanic fraud of reincarnation (cyclic existence, transmigration of souls, past and future lives) has deceived millions of people, including Buddhists, Hindus, Jainists, Sikhs, Rosicrucians, Kabbalahists, and more.

Instead of believing the truth about mankind’s origin Creation in Paradise, the truth about man’s fall to sin, the entrance of death into the world, and the truth about God’s plan of salvation, people foolishly accept a COUNTERFEIT—and reject the Creator’s gracious gift of eternal salvation. The result will be eternal death.

REINCARNATION—Learn more about what the Bible says

Volunteer reviewer needed for this movie

See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.


Viewer CommentsSend your comments
Positive
Positive—I am giving this film a positive rating, but have very mixed feelings about it. It lacks the cleanness of the first movie, “A Dog’s Purpose,” and does contain content that some viewers may feel is inappropriate. I note that it is directed by a different person. This isn’t a movie for younger children, in my opinion, because of the mature content, violence, and sadness contained in the story.

The storyline that threads throughout the movie is well written and interesting, and it’s a nice love story about the meaning of true love between two people, with a positive message about forgiveness. It is rather sad, I mean the dogs (or is that dog?) die a few times, sometimes in tragic circumstances, and the family life is very dysfunctional. It seems realistic in its attempts to show how some families struggle with the presence of depression combined with alcohol use, and how girls in this type of environment often gravitate to abusive fellows in their quest for love and acceptance.

I struggled with the vulgarity in the film which consists of bathroom humour which unfortunately moves toward sexual references in terms of male anatomy. There are also a few subtle and blatant references to indicate that couples are living together without being married. I heard God’s name used in vain once, but no other swearing. Also, the girl manipulates her mother to get her a dog by telling her that she’ll tell her teacher about the neglect she experiences. Her mother is an alcoholic and very unstable. I mean CJ smuggles a dog into the home, and her mother doesn’t even notice, and she is frequently left home alone all night when she is only 11 years old.

The acting is very good and it sure shows the positive role dogs play in our lives, even though it promotes the idea of re-incarnation in animals. However, there’s no indication that humans come back in other lives.

Do animals really go to Heaven? I guess we’ll never know for sure until we get there, but somehow there is some contradiction on this topic in the film. I’m recommending it with a cautionary note.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Average / Moviemaking quality: 3½
Kathy Pj, age 58 (Canada)
Editor’s Note: Will your dog (or other pet) be in Heaven? If you are concerned and are reborn in Christ, be encouraged. Although animals have no eternal souls, if in Paradise you actually yearn for your Earthly pet—it could easily appear by God’s power and grace on your behalf, or through an ability that God provides to His sanctified children in eternal life—and not the result of reincarnation or evidence of an animal soul. WITH GOD, there will be no tears and no death.

“…He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain…” —Revelation 21:4 NASB

If you are not a true, regenerate (reborn) follower of Christ, then understand that God’s Word is clear—you will certainly not be allowed in Heaven with our Holy Creator—and your dog will be the least of your concerns.

Is Jesus Christ the answer to your questions?Discover the good news that Jesus Christ offers to every sinner

Click here to watch THE HOPE on-line!Discover God’s promise for all people—told beautifully and clearly from the beginning. Discover The HOPE! Watch it on Christian Answers.

Are you good enough to get to Heaven? Answer

Will all mankind eventually be saved? Answer

Negative
Negative—I personally did not enjoy when a green monster who referred to himself as “Shrek” (which is not a name of God) came and stole the dog from it’s owner. Stealing is a sin. When watching with a younger group of kids, I was worried that they would take after this character and start stealing the neighborhood dogs. We simply don’t have the amount of time to take care of all those dogs. It would give me such a headache. Plus, the next door lady’s dog yaps a lot and I would end up letting it run away. Lets see if he can find his way back like the dog in the movie.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Offensive / Moviemaking quality: ½
Debra, age 42 (Canada)

PLEASE share your observations and insights to be posted here.

Secular Movie Critics
…gloopy, goofy… Buddhism-for-beginners premise… spiritual ferry through repeated rounds of Rover reincarnation…
Guy Lodge, Variety
…Doggedly effective… ruthlessly efficient when it comes to jerking tears… serve[s] up a sugar-coated, bastardized form of Buddhism for pet lovers…
Leslie Felperin, Variety
…tear-jerker aimed squarely at tween- and teenage girls… fluffy, sappy… never looks any better than a TV movie…
Nicholas Barber, TheWrap
…all about a multiple-incarnation pooch… I suppose it’s a genuine achievement that a movie packed with as much delightful canine (and agreeable human) talent as this one should be so insufferable. …
Glenn Kenny, The New York Times
…cheap emotional manipulation… ‘A Dog’s Journey’ will make you cry, but it does not earn those tears… [1/4]
Kristen Page-Kirby, The Washington Post
…unashamed agglomeration of poop jokes and puppy eyes… this movie is almost literally all puppy eyes. [2/4]
Mike McCahill, The Guardian (UK)
…“A Dog’s Journey” is still prepared to get extraordinarily dark… still the same weird mix of tearjerking dog death, soapy drama, and kid-friendly comedy. The end result is like watching a season finale of “This Is Us” with a commentary track by Elmo… [2½/5]
Richard Whittaker, Austin Chronicle
…a sky-high saccharine quotient… A big, juicy bone for canine-focused humans, but much less of a treat for others. …
Walter Addiego, San Francisco Chronicle