At Jesus' Side (2008) Reviews

• From the perspective of a non-religious person

  nightlight19912013-11-11

  Although I do not have religious beliefs, this movie doesn't really teach much regarding the miracles of Jesus. Despite his name being in the title, Jesus is a pretty minor character. The plot focuses on four animals which consists of two dogs named Jericho and Ulysses, a hedgehog named Petra and a Chameleon named Miguel. While traveling, they find a baby puppy and decide to try to return her to her home but Jericho is against this idea because of his hatred of humans. After arriving in Jerusalem, they meet another dog named Maya who offers to help them and Jesus who Jericho begins to befriend. While they are in town, they need to avoid a man named Psychosis who hates dogs and loves killing them. One problem with this movie is that it has quite a few plot holes. For example, the movie begins with the animals traveling but we are not told much about where they came from and Phycosis lacks a back story as it is never explained why he has such a huge hatred for dogs. The voice acting for this film ranges from average to poor. Lucas Grabeel sounds like he is extremely bored here and Roma Downey sounds like she wants to go to sleep. Lee Tockar, despite being one of the better voice actors, constantly switches between different accents for Miguel despite the fact that he is supposed to be a Spanish speaking animal. There are a couple of positives to this movie. The animation is actually pretty good for a direct-to-video movie. Some of the voice actors are definitely better than others such as Kathleen Barr and Blu Mankuma. Overall, this is definitely a Christian based movie I do not recommend. It could have been a good movie if it only focused on Jesus and did not have any talking animals because I think kids would be able to handle some of the things that happen to Jesus that are not shown here.

• Not All That Good

  j-jessie-weaver2012-11-03

  Being a Christian, I love the Lord with all my heart, the things He has done for us, and everything about Him. One of my friends, who is a Mormon, told me to check this movie out. At first, I was excited to see it, but after viewing the film on YouTube, I was a little disappointed. Jesus Christ is barely even involved in the plot, instead, it's Jericho and his friends that get the screen time. The only seconds Jesus ever has in this are the moments with Him and Jericho to the Crucifixion. Some of the characters aren't that interesting, either. Miguel, for instance, is supposed to be a chameleon with charm and cuteness, but he comes off looking like an obnoxious idiot. And, if he's supposed to be a Spanish speaking animal, why does his voice keep changing to plain English, Irish, and who knows what else? Another problem I have with "At Jesus' Side" is the lack of explaining to the viewers what's going on. Where did Psychosis come from, why does he hate and want to kill dogs, and how did the animals journey miles to Jerusalem? We don't know. The movie never explains it. The animation, I'll admit, is nice. It can be a bit mediocre at times, but it's decent. Even though it is supposed to be a film based on the Bible, "At Jesus' Side" is a movie you'll only want to watch once. The acting is... eh, there are no explanations for most of the scenes, and it becomes sugarcoated throughout half of the film. If you want to see a good animated movie about the story of Jesus, I recommend, "Jesus: He Lived Among Us" or "The Miracles of Jesus" from 1989. As for "At Jesus' Side," it's not the movie I expected to see.

• A sure to become classic animated movie that brings the teachings of Jesus to life in today's families.

  patrick-wells662013-03-11

  A sure to become classic animated movie that brings the teachings of Jesus to life in today's families through the story of five misfit animals on a journey toward love and forgiveness. Our hero, Jericho, is a vagabond street dog who befriends Jesus and follows him throughout the last week of his life through the resurrection. After Jesus' arrest at Gethsemane, Jericho rallies an epic charge of animal friends to try to save Jesus from his fate. Although the events regarding the animals interaction with Jesus are obviously fictionalized, Jesus is portrayed as he is in the Bible, loving and compassionate, and true events are portrayed such as the Triumphal Entry, overturning of the money changers' tables, and his false arrest, trial, crucifixion and resurrection. This is a warm and nice story and every family member can enjoy this DVD.It is terrific!