It's obvious that this film is a bit of a rip off of "Home Alone 2", having some of the charm of the first Homeward Bound but missing a key ingredient that would have made it as good. That ingredient is believability, another case of "Here we go again" that followed "Home Alone 2" all around Manhattan. Shadow, Chance and Sassy are all back, and Ralph Waite has stepped into the fur of the late Don Ameche as the loyal and wise Shadow, and it's a perfect transition because their voices are very similar. You wouldn't expect the aging Shadow to change, but Michael J. Fox has chance and Sally Field as sassy are back to where they were at the beginning of the film even though it is two years later. It's particularly noticeable with Sassy who is twice as "catankerous" as she was in part one.

Like the "Look Who's Talking" sequels, this gets more gimmicky with additional voices, and the combination of some bully alley dogs and a pair of animal thieves disguised as dog catchers is a rip-off of the two idiotic robbers from "Home Alone". There's a touching moment where Shadow and Sassy become hero and heroine by rescuing a young boy and a kitten from a burning building, but the romance between Chance and a female street dog is cloying and forced. Still, it's great to see the three dogs, separated at one point of course, making their way all over San Francisco, although it's ridiculous that they get to the city from the airport so quickly considering that it's really far away.

Another element that is disturbing is the character of the youngest son Jamie who for some reason seems angry at Chance (or at least bored by him) in the opening scenes, not very realistic considering how the first film ended and his worries that were shown throughout. It is still a very enjoyable film even with these major flaws, and I'm glad that they decided to end the franchise here. It's just that the lack of originality and its rip off of various other franchise rip offs does indicate that not a lot of thought was put into the creation of what could have been another modern classic.

Once again, the animals and their corresponding voices from famous actors make up the bulk of the film (as opposed to real-life actors Robert Hays and Kim Griest playing actual people). Also, we have a similar theme as in the first "Homeward Bound" with animals lost and having to find their way home.

This sequel is not as good as the original. It dwells a little too much on the romance between the two dogs, and it doesn't show enough interesting scenes in San Francisco, which you would really expect from the title of the film alone. The animals stayed too long in one spot and should have been on the move more.

Otherwise, Michael J. Fox and Sally Field once again have a ton of gag lines to speak as the dog and cat, respectively. Many of their lines were good, some very clever that kids won't understand. The jokes of those two were the highlight of the movie. There were no annoying or evil villains, or even bad-guy dog catchers.

All in all, it was okay but nothing special.

Homeward Bound:The Incredible Journey was a beautiful charming film, that I have loved since childhood. And maybe it is just me but I feel it is underrated as well. This sequel is inferior, but in my mind, it is decent. It does have its problems, such as the lame direction, the not-so-crisp editing and one too many slow and corny moments in the plot. But what does compensate hugely is the witty script(of which Sassy gets the majority of the best lines),the lovely soundtrack and the voice acting. Michael J Fox and Sally Field once again do fine work, and while the late Don Ameche was a lot more noble and gentle, Ralph Waite does an above average job as the voice of Shadow the Golden Retriever. The animals also did wonderfully and came very close to stealing the show, and the camera-work is often excellent. All in all, worth the look, but be warned that it doesn't quite live up to its original. 7/10 Bethany Cox