Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2

Consistently tedious and utterly pointless, Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2 opens with Papi (George Lopez) and Chloe’s (Odette Yustman) wedding and subsequently follows the pair as they attempt to deal with a litter of rambunctious puppies. Meanwhile, Papi’s owner, Sam (Marcus Coloma), is stunned to learn that his parents have one week to come up with $40,000 or else they’ll lose their home – with the film primarily detailing Sam’s ongoing efforts at raising the cash. It’s clear right from the outset that Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2 has been modelled after Disney’s inexplicably popular Air Buddies series, as the film boasts a pervasive emphasis on many of the elements that have come to define that abominable franchise (including one-dimensional characters, simplistic situations, and juvenile jokes and gags). And although there are admittedly one or two relatively amusing moments sprinkled throughout (eg Chloe performs Beethoven’s Für Elise on a tiny grand piano at a talent competition), Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2 ultimately comes off as a pointedly kid-centric endeavor that boasts few attributes designed to sustain the interest of older viewers (with the abundance of moustache-twirling villains, eg the snooty dog-show judge, the obnoxious bank executive, etc, emblematic of the film’s low-rent sensibilities).

* out of ****