Enjoyable in a nostalgic way

For some reason, even though I was alive at the time, I have no recollection at all of a Lassie movie coming out in the 90s. But I ran across something about it the other day and decided to see if my library had the DVD. They did. I checked it out and watched it last night.

I enjoyed the movie overall, but I think a lot of my enjoyment came from the fact that it reminded me in tone and style of a lot of other family films that came out in the 90s. Family movies of that era definitely had a distinct feel to them that movies today don't have.

You get a lot of standard tropes: The troubled young kid who needs to work through some issues, an animal companion to help him along the way, the kindly old grandpa hovering around in the story, and "evil" kids from the neighborhood who stand in his way and try to make his life difficult.

There's not a lot that's surprising about the plot and the film is never particularly exciting, but the old-school feel, the beautiful scenery, a cool dog, and the relentlessly sweet and calming tone of the film made me feel like I didn't waste my time.

6.5/10