Spoilers Are Likely (Not If You Know The Space Race)So, Here I Am Again. Today, I'll Be Reviewing Space Dogs, Russia's First Full-Length CGI Effort. Even Though It's Based Off Stuff That Actually Happened In The Soviet Union, A Country I LOVE Learning About, There's Still Reasons For Me To Tear This Film To Shreds.In Real Life, These Dogs (Belka And Strelka) Were The First Dogs Safely Returned From Space, Which Capitalised Off The Faults Of The Groundbreaking, Albeit Infamous Sputnik 2 Mission And Cleared The Way For The Soviets To Send Up The First People. This Film Exaggerates The Dogs' Capture, Training And Mission By Portraying Them As Actual Characters And Presenting The Film From Their Perspective. But In Spite Of It's Historical Roots...The Film Still Sucks.The Problem Is I Found The Dogs To Have Been Portrayed Pretty Bad, Even For A First Try. They Try To Make Their Dreams And Motivations Clear, But The Only Slightly Positive Factor Came Out Of That Was The Relationship Between Belka And Strelka. The Films Animation Is Up To Modern Standards, But Still Choppy And Unprofessional. The Only Time Where The Animation Looks Decent Is (Ironically) The Nighttime Scenes. Not To Mention, The Film Is Boring, Incoherent And Uninvolving, With Two-Dimensional Acting And Messages That Don't Translate Because Of The Aforementioned Reasons.What Do I Have To Say About Space Dogs? Read The Title Again. I've Seen Better Films The Actual Soviets Made And-Wait, There's A SEQUEL?!

Suitable for kids? I guess so. But the movie is pretty unconventional. It tries to capture and deliver the long-forgotten atmosphere of soviet childhood with many of its supporting characters based on nearly iconic characters of old Soviet cartoons and children's stories. The setting - Moscow of the 60-s. This contributes to the overall spirit of nostalgia, It's like if the authors take their old toys from an attic and start telling their stories. The story is little sad, and the characters always have to keep struggling, while their fate doesn't even belong to them. This spirit is probably created intentionally to make the viewers experience what it was like to be a Soviet man. There's nothing propagandistic about this film, and, as I said, It feels very authentic.The original Russian voice acting plays an important role in delivering the spirit, which is often even more important than animation itself. I do suspect the dubbing doesn't contribute to correct perception of this piece. Overall, this is not exactly similar to Pixar movies and it's not about a positive message, fun or enthusiasm. But it enables viewers to experience, like, an ancient civilization that no longer exists.What it reminds me is "LES TRIPLETTES DE BELLEVILLE". However, "Space Dogs" does seem to be acceptable for little kids and has some humanistic messages to deliver. Only that it's not about walking around and making the world a better place. It's more about facing things that are not in one's power to change at all.That said, the pace is quick and action-packed, so it's hard to get bored. Overall, a good first step towards Pixar standards.The quality of CG is not exactly up to modern standards, but it's advantage is about delivering the spirit of Soviet puppet-animated films. So I say it's good, as I doubt anyone else could do it. So, why is this worth watching for a non-Russian-speaker? I guess it's like anime - another world, another life philosophy. It's also educational.It's not very good for those who: a) expect a charge of purely positive energy and uplifting messages b) have a particularly strong bias against USSR

This movie seams exceedingly cheap. The animation is crude, the movements seem like something out of a stop motion movie, and the 3D effects are so crude, that it will give you a headache at times. But that isn't even the worst of it. This movie is, from start to finish, nothing more than a horrible and misguided glorification of the Russia that used to be. Everywhere you look you see happy faces alongside communist symbols. For this reason alone, this movie will never be recommended by me. This type of political propaganda has absolutely no place in a movie made for children. I was honestly left with a very bad taste in my mouth. I found the whole thins more than distasteful.

If you want to see just how good our CG! movies are these days, SPACE DOGS is an entirely Russian effort. True, read the credits and all of the background images are clearly huge Soviet type statues at al. The plot involves two cute dogs and a funny rat plus three bad evil dogs, typical stuff. The animation is crude beyond a doubt, this is almost pre-Toy Story effort. And humor is just not there. It would be appealing to a very very very young viewer but if you want to truly appreciate THE INCREDIBLES and UP all the more so, watch this one and if you WANT to like it, that is a good thing but within 30 minutes you will find your DVD playing a more contemporary fare.