vsd324 Max is a must-see film for animal lovers. More so, it's a must-see movie for those who are oblivious to how poorly animals are treated in the US. Max is based on a true story about a Belgian Malinois used in military operations in Afghanistan. His handler, Kyle Wilcott (Robbie Arnell) is killed in action, and Max is sent back home. Much like humans, dogs experience post traumatic stress disorder; so upon his return Max is very irritable and unapproachable. Unfortunately, dogs that return in this state are treated no differently than a piece of equipment that returns damaged—they are discarded. This awful act is one of the messages this movie tries to convey. How can a dog be treated like a tank or a gun? Do tanks and arms undergo PTSD? So how can dogs be associated more with the equipment than the solders that return? Kyle's father Ray (Thomas Haden Church) is a veteran who sympathizes with the military trained dogs, and offers to take Max into his home; both as a rescue and as a responsibility to give to his younger son Justin (Josh Wiggins) who is in need of some discipline. The only time Max is calm is in Justin's presence—Max senses the relationship to Kyle. Justin's best friend is Chuy (Dejon LaQuake) Chuy has a cousin Carmen (Mia Xitali) staying with him. Carmen is familiar with dog rescues, and helps Justin to train Max. We see that Max is a good judge of character, lashing out at anyone evil while being calmer to good-natured people. Max's relentless ferocity to bad people causes problems. Josh finds himself at the wrong place at the wrong time with the overzealous Max, and they get involved in some shady business between Tyler (Luke Kleintank), Kyle's partner in the military, and Emilio (Joseph Julian Soria) a thuggish relative of Chuy. The movie itself was an OK action adventure, but the movie was more about the message. Hopefully after seeing this film people will realize a dog more like a sergeant than an AK-47.

Reno Rangan Nowadays there are no good dog films like a decade ago were. They're restricted to television for the quality only the little kids can get entertained thoroughly. This film is a good news for adults and not a usual story, only from the outside. I mean the story was associated with war, only in the initial segment and then the rest of the narration was somewhat feeling familiar.Inspired by the war dogs who assisted the US soldiers during the war in the middle- east of what is this film is dedicated to. A dog named Max returns States from the service after met with a disaster. Now he's adopted by a family whose son had died fighting the same war along side him. With struggling to adjust a new life, Max finds a close bond with a boy in the family and that leads to an adventure in the nearby woods where they fight against the illegal activists.The same boy from the film 'Lost in the Sun', but here he had full scope for his character. The rest of the cast as well very good, especially the dog. A good story, but anticipated a little better with more developments. Emotionally, it should have been stronger, but somewhat satisfying overall product it was. The locations were beautiful, especially the woods.The end was decent as a story, but they did not get it right in pictures. Seems there's logic missing regarding the geographical area where blast takes place. I know it won't be your top 10 pick from the years, yet not that bad to skip it. Not a dog film I hoped for, but I accept it for the todays scenario where quantity declined. So I say go for it.7/10

Steven Ball This movie reminds us of the contribution dogs have made to the military effort & still do. Like the canines that assist local law enforcement, military canines provide an invaluable service. This movie about one such dog - Max - is well made and acted. The story centers on the bonding between one teenager & Max. Max has been traumatized by the war & the teenager played by Josh Wiggins has his own set of problems - together they come through it together. This movie might be too intense for younger audience but should appeal to teenagers. There is even a sub plot involving a coming of age romance. The parents played by Church & Graham are alternately strong & nurturing.

leonblackwood Review: For a movie about a dog, I actually quite enjoyed it! I wasn't expecting deceptive gun runners and dog fights in the film and the emotional content did touch me, so I must admit, it was a joy to watch. It's about a US Marine, Kyle Wincott (Robbie Amell), who handles a dog, Max in Afghanistan. Max guides Kyles squad towards some hidden weapons but when the artillery goes missing, Kyle is questioned by his superior officers. Kyle soon realises that his close friend, Tyler Harne (Luke Kleintank), is involved in the missing weapons and he warns him that he's not going to cover for him again. Whilst on the battlefield, Max heads the squad toward a suicide bomber were Max gets injured and Kyle get shot and killed during a gun battle. Kyle's younger brother, Justin (Josh Wiggins), who makes money from pirating video games and his father, Ray (Thomas Haden Church) and mother Pamela (Lauren Graham), are informed about Kyle's death and during the burial, the US marines bring in Max to say goodbye to Kyle. Since the shooting in Afghanistan, Max has become uncontrollable but everyone can see that he is calm around Justin, because he can sense that he's Kyle's brother. As Max is due to be put down, the family agree to adopt him, as long as Justin takes control of him and they soon become best friends, with the help of his best friends cousin Carmen (Mia Xitlali). Tyler then visits the Wincotts and Max goes to attack him, because he knows of his dodgy gun dealings. Tyler then tells Ray that Kyle died because Max turned against.him so Justin goes to his fellow officer to investigate his brothers death. Justin is given a DVD to prove that Max wouldn't have turned on Kyle and while he is watching the film with Carmen and his best friend Chuy's, he is brought to tears and convinced that Tyler is lying. When they finish watching the DVD, Justin is approached by Chuy's other cousin, Emilio, whose a cartel member, about the pirate video games and they follow him into the woods and witness a arms deal with a police officer and Tyler. The police officers dogs can sense Max is nearby so they chase after him and Justin tries to flee the scene, leaving his bike behind. After Max fights of the police offers dogs, badly wounding one of them, they head home after hitchhiking a lift and when the police officer finds his bike, he goes to Justin house with Tyler and demands Max to be put down. Max manages to escape the pound and heads back to Justin house while Ray is held hostage because he has caught Tyler making an arms deal with the cartel. Max then leads Justin, Chuy and Carmen to Ray whereabouts and they manage to rescue Ray, after fighting of Emilio and the police officer. Tyler then comes face to face with Justin on a damaged bridge but he's attacked by Max, which kills Tyler and badly damages Max. After the whole dramatic incident, Max and Justin visit his brothers grave and the Wincotts adopt Max again. A sweet ending to a dramatic movie! The dog was brilliant throughout the movie and the emotional scenes at the funeral were brilliant. I would have liked to have seen some more footage of Max in Afghanistan with Kyle but apart from that, it's a decent film with enough elements to keep it interesting throughout. The dog is the real star of the movie but everyone puts in a good performance, which made the movie, surprisingly, a good watch. Enjoyable!Round-Up: This movie was directed by Boaz Yakin, who also brought you Fresh in 1994, A Price Above Rubies with Renee Zellweger, Remember The Titans, Uptown Girls, Death in Love and Safe with Jason Statham. He's had a versatile career to date and he has worked with some big stars but taking on a movie with a dog must have been a big project, so I have to give him credit for that. He also put a lot of effort into the script, which I found quite entertaining, so for a family drama, this movie gets the thumbs up from me.Budget: $20million Worldwide Gross: $44millionI recommend this movie to people who are into their family/adventure movies starring Thomas Haden Church, Josh Wiggins, Luke Kleintank and Lauren Graham. 6/10