An enjoyable, fun and safe family film! The sequel is geared more towards a younger audience but it has a storyline that would interest parents and adult viewers. If your children enjoyed “Beverly Hills Chihuahua” and also enjoy Disney’s “Buddies” or “Santa Paws” films, they will definitely enjoy “Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2”.
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TITLE: Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2
FILM RELEASE DATE: 2011
DURATION: 84 Minutes
BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition (1:78:1), English, 5.1 DTS-HD MA, French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital Subtitles: English SDH, French and Spanish
COMPANY: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment
RATED: G (All Ages Admitted)
RELEASE DATE: February 2, 2011
Directed by Alex Zamm
Written by Dannah Feinglass, Danielle Schneider
Characters by Jeffrey Bushell
Produced by David Hoberman, Brad Krevoy, Todd Lieberman
Executive Producer: Mike Callaghan, Sara E. White
Music by Chris Hajian
Cinematography by Robert Brinkman
Edited by Marshall Harvey, Heath Ryan
Casting by Cathy Sandrich
Production Design by Richard Holland
Art Direction by Charles Daboub Jr.
Set Decoration by Don Diers
Costume Design by Kristin M. Burke
Starring:
Marcus Coloma as Sam Cortez
Erin Cahill as Rachel
Susan Blakely as Aunt Viv
Lupe Ontiveros as Mrs. Cortez
Castulo Guerra as Mr. Cortez
George Lopez (voice of Papi)
Odette Yustman (voice of Chloe)
Miguel Ferrer (voice of Delgado)
Ernie Hudson (voice of Pedro)
Zacharary Gordon (voice of Papi Junior)
Chantilly Spalan (voice of Rosa)
Emily Osment (voice of Pep)
Madison Pettis (voice of Lala)
Delaney Jones (voice of Ali)
Tom Kenny (voice of Sebastian)
Loretta Devine (voice of Delta)
Bridgit Mendler (voice of Appoline)
Alyssa Milano (voice of Biminy)
Jon Donahue (voice of Antonio)
Jon Huertas (voice of Alberto)
Elaine Hendrix as Colleen Mansfield – Appoline’s Owner
Brian Stepanek as Mr. Kroop
Morgan Fairchild as Female Commentator
French Stewart as Male Commentator
From the creators of Beverly Hills Chihuahua, everybody’s favorite talking Chihuahuas are back in a comedy that’s a pack of outrageous fun for the whole family. Puppy mayhem turns the lives of newlywed Chihuahua parents, Papi and Chloe, upside down when their playful puppies present one challenge after another. But, when their human owners find themselves in trouble, the tiny pups will stop at nothing to save them—because in good times and hard times, the family always sticks together. Papi, Chloe and the puppies embark on a heroic adventure, proving once again that big heroes come in small packages.
Mud Slide
French Poodle
The Beverly Hills Chihuahuas are back!
Papi and Chloe return for another adventure in the sequel to the popular children’s movie “Beverly Hills Chihuahua”.
Since the ’90s, Walt Disney Home Entertainment has successfully bringing talking (voice-over) canines to live action films which began with the “Air Bud” films to its “Buddies” and “Santa Paws” films and the fun continues with this direct-to-video film which features the return of many of the canine characters from the first film.
In the sequel, both Papi (voiced by George Lopez) and Chloe (voiced by Odette Yusman) have just gotten married. Hardcore dog lover, aunt Viv (played by Susan Blakely) has thrown a luxurious party to celebrate the wedding of both dogs and now Sam Cortez (played by Marcus Coloma) and Rachel (played by Erin Cahill) are talking about marriage.
But with aunt Viv and Rachel planning a trip to the rainforest, Sam and Rachel can discuss it later but for now, the celebration is for the marriage of Papi and Chloe.
Four months later and we see that Papi and Chloe are parents of five young chihuahua: One boy, Papi Jr. and four girls, Rosa, Pep, Lala and Ali.
Chloe is starting to get upset with Papi because he acts more like a playmate to his kids than a father and she wants him to show authority, since the kids are starting to pick up on their father’s bad habits.
But Papi feels that being a father is quite difficult but he’s ready to try, in order to make Chloe happy.
Sam then takes Papi, Chloe and the kids to meet with his family in Los Angeles to meet with his parents and their dog Pedro (voiced by Ernie Hudson). Upon arriving, the little ones are afraid of Pedro because of his menacing smile but Papi let’s them know that his brother is a nice dog.
As for Sam, he finds unpaid bills at his parent’s home and is very concerned. Mr. Cortez tells Sam that they are unable to pay their bills and now they are in danger of being evicted. Because Mr. Cortez threw his back, he is unable to work and through the landscaping business, and with the economy so bad, the only employee left is Sam.
Unfortunately, the Cortez are behind by $40,000 and if they don’t pay it, they will lose the house. At first Sam considers asking Viv (because she is wealthy) but Mr. Cortez will not allow it because it is a family affair. And if they lose the house, Sam’s parents would have to move to Arizona to live with Mr. Cortez’ sister.
Meanwhile, as for Papi, Chloe and their kids, Chloe is starting to get upset that Papi tells them stories and the kids acting out on it. As Papi loves telling the stories of the chihuahua warriors, Papi Jr. jumps on the window ledge to pretend his fighting a snake. But he falls off the ledge and before he crashes down on the pavement, he is rescued by a familiar friend, the German Shepard Mexican police dog, Delgado (voiced by Miguel Ferrer).
Delgado has come to Los Angeles in hopes that Chloe can help him out. Delgado tells her a story that he had two children but while on a case, a criminal threatened to kills his two German Shepherd pups and in order to prevent them from getting hurt, Delgado took them to the LAPD and dropped them off anonymously and to save him from being hurt, he never said goodbye. His two pups have now grown up to become part of the K-9 division of the LAPD and he just wants to talk to them, but his two dogs are still hurt about their father abandoning them.
As Sam and his family try to get the bank to give them time enough to raise money to pay for the house, unfortunately the bank won’t wait. As the bank visits the house the next following day, they try to inspect the house but Papi and friends will not allow it. They prevent the employees from staying in the house and it angers the bank rep even more and tells them that instead of getting two weeks, now they are expected to leave immediately by nighttime.
Stressed and not knowing what to do, Sam gets a call from Rachel and he explains to her the problem but Sam will not allow her to help or talk to her Aunt Viv. Sam tells her that it is a family problem but Rachel tells him that she is family as they are supposed to get married but still, Sam won’t allow it and Rachel is heartbroken.
Not sure what they can do, Chloe sees her rival Appoline in the newspaper and reads that there is a dog show that night and the winner can win $50,000. More than enough money for the Cortez to save their home.
So, Papi, Chloe, Delgado and Pedro decide to take part in the dog show to win the money and Sam and the Cortez are hoping one of them will win.
Can they win the dog show and get the money needed to save the Cortez’ home?
VIDEO:
“Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2” is presented in 1080p High Definition (1:78:1 aspect ratio) and the PQ is great! The colors are vibrant and while the costume design are not as super-detailed like the first film (as there was impressive costume designs in the previous film), the sequel still manages to hold up by its frequent daytime shots. Colors really pop out for this film and the detail on the chihuahua is well-done.
It’s important to note that as the last film would focus on many locations, the primary focus of this second film is inside the home of the Cortez family or at Viv’s mansion ala indoors. While the outdoor shots are typically outside of the home until you get to the dog show and with the puppies roaming around Los Angeles.
Blacks are nice and deep, the flashbacks show effective lighting and skin tones, pigmentation, stubble, fabric, grass, dirt to the hairs of the dogs are well-detailed. There is a good amount of grain, but you tend to see some low-light noise at ties.
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
“Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2” is presented in 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital. The film is primarily center channel and front channel driven. There are times during the film especially the scene with the dog show in which you hear crowd ambiance, cameras taking pictures of the dogs but the film is primarily center and front-channel driven, dialogue is absolutely clear while the film also tends to showcase quite a bit of music.
Subtitles are presented in English SDH, French and Spanish.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2” features the following special features:
- Music Video: “This is My Paradise†By Bridgit Mendler – (2:37) The star of “Good Luck Charlie” and “Wizards of Waverly Place”, Bridgit Mendler sings “This is My Paradise”.
- Blooper Faux Paws – (3:22) Bloopers from “Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2”.
- Beverly Hills Chihuahua Challenge – interactive game show led by Papi. A Q&A multiple choice game in which you use your Blu-ray remote (or keyboard) to select the right answer.
- Sharpay’s Fabulous Adventure Sneak Peak – (1:57) A sneak peak of Ashley Tisdale’s “High School Musical” spinoff film.
EXTRAS:
“Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2” comes with a slip over case plus a DVD featuring the film and the special features. The DVD is presented in widescreen (1:78:1 – enhanced for 16×9 televisions), audio is presented in English, French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital. Subtitles are in English, English SDH, French and Spanish.
“Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2†is a fun and enjoyable family film! If your children loved the first film or if they loved Disney’s “Buddies” or “Santa Paws” films, they will definitely enjoy this sequel!
There was no doubt that there was going to be a sequel to “Beverly Hills Chihuahua”. As the first film grossed over $29 million in its opening weekend and $117 million worldwide, similar to the “Air Bud” films from Disney during the the late ’90s, you pretty much knew there would be direct-to-video sequels and to capitalize on the future of original film and have future installments, the main characters would have to produce children and sure enough, similar to how “Air Bud” spun off to having “Buddies” films, I wouldn’t be surprised if we started seeing films starring these little chihuahuas.
While the first film had star power, the direct-to-video does feature a good number of talent especially the return of George Lopez and Odette Yustman to provide the voices of Papi and Chloe, as with Miguel Ferrer returning as the voice of Delgado. We have a new Aunt Viv, a new Sam Cortez and a new Rachelle for this sequel and for the most part, these three do a good job and one can only hope that for future installments, to keep things consistent, hopefully Disney uses these same talents for the next film. It was one thing about the “Air Bud” films that would get out of hand, you had the same kid but always different talents playing the parents or sister. Hopefully, we see Marcus Coloma, Erin Cahill and Susan Blakeley return in the near future.
Also, what makes this sequel different aside from one having a larger budget and was a film as opposed to a direct-to-video release, the first film tend to balance a storyline between Sam and Rachel’s growing relationship and Papi and Chloe’s relationship to appeal to both parents and children. While “Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2” does tend to focus more on the dogs, especially the puppies and thus targeting a younger demographic, there is a storyline for adults that is relevant and that is how the downward economy is hurting family’s and in this case, Sam’s parents are losing their home. So, while children may not understand this, it is a storyline that adults can understand and also share interest in this film, so “Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2” appeals to audiences of all ages. But this sequel is definitely more geared for the younger children.
As for the Blu-ray release, parents will get the best of both worlds as the Blu-ray release does come with a DVD, which is perfect for family’s on long commutes, especially before Spring Break and the Summertime. This film will definitely keep children busy. Picture quality is very good for this Blu-ray, as the lossless audio is very good but not too immersive but still clear and understandable. And there are a few special features which are once again more targeted for a younger demographic.
Overall, “Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2” is different from its predecessor but still family-geared. While I do enjoy the first film much more (primarily because it was a film, higher budget, various locations and had a romcom storyline between Sam and Rachel, I do feel that the younger audience and their parents will still enjoy this film.
The sequel is more geared towards the young viewers and if you have children who enjoyed the first film, the “Buddies” or “Santa Paws” films, they are definitely going to enjoy this movie as well. In fact, I recommend this film to parents who are looking for a safe family film to watch with their children.
