Review by John P. Harvey.

When his parents go on holiday to the Canary Islands, Lassie’s owner, Florian (Nico Marischka), decides to instead go with Lassie (Bandit) to stay with his Aunt Cosima (Katharina Schüttler).  Florian’s parents’ butler, Gerhardt (Justus von Dohnányi), delivers Florian and Lassie to Aunt Cosima before going on to holiday at a nearby hotel.

Upon arrival, Florian and Lassie meet Aunt Cosima’s new family: Henri (Pelle Staacken) and Kleo (Anna Lucia Gualano), whom Aunt Cosima is fostering, and her enthusiastic Jack Russell, named Pippa (Resi).

Aunt Cosima’s new foster daughter, Kleo, offering little more than resentment and cynicism, keeps everyone at a distance.  The only one she lets her guard down for is the little dog, Pippa.  And Pippa’s importance to her brings her out fighting when masked dognappers manage to snatch Pippa from Aunt Cosima’s home — the 15th reported dognapping.  The local police propose awaiting developments.  Kleo thinks this isn’t good enough, but it is Lassie who acts.  The adventure that follows has Lassie and the children variously endangered as they try to locate and free the abducted dogs before the villains sell them to a variety of rich strangers.

Fortunately, the children have the able assistance of both Aunt Cosima and Gerhardt, who readily accepts the role of spy on the children’s behalf.  And the child protagonists, as real life confronts them, come to face their inner difficulties: Kleo breaks free of her anticipations, Florian discovers that he can rely on others, and Henri learns to ethically transcend rules.

The wholesomeness of country life is embodied in the environment in which Lassie and the children — ably assisted by their adult sidekicks — adventure: vineyards and stone houses and country roads along which they ride their bikes in rapid pursuit of the dog victims’ liberation.

Nico Marischka and Bandit, who co-starred in Lassie Come Home (2020), make such a natural pairing — with Bandit’s innate intelligence and great training and Marischka’s natural acting style — that it’s easy to believe that Florian and Lassie really do naturally belong together.  Katharina Schüttler’s warm performance as Florian’s Aunt Cosima, in creating a sense of both community and family life, also catalysed some of the chemistry between the leads.

As villains, Delphine (Maike Jüttendonk) and her partner in crime, played by Dennis Mojen, are indifferent to the welfare of their captives, but they are unlikely to give child audience members any nightmares.

Filmed appealingly, well acted, and with a fine modern soundtrack accompanying a weaving story line, Lassie: A New Adventure makes fine family fare.

Screening at Palace cinemas.