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Parents' Guide to

Beethoven's 2nd

By M. Faust, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 10+

Near-date rape, teen drinking mar canine sequel.

Movie PG 1993 87 minutes
Beethoven's 2nd Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

age 10+

Based on 10 parent reviews

age 10+

Would be more family friendly than its predecessor were it not for one scene

Were it not for the scene which has been discussed at length on this CSM post I personally feel this sequel otherwise would have been more family friendly than the first Beethoven. While the first film was mostly for children, it had some adult jokes in it to not keep parents asleep and also even had some dark subplots and even mild violence. Here the violence is much more toned down, the villian while certainly intimidating and threatening is not anywhere near as much as in the first film and some of the innuendo jokes present in the first film seem absent this time around. But there is the one scene that has been discussed here that makes this sequel more inappropriate than its predecessor. The oldest daughter of the parents visits her crush from high school at a cabin nearby the one they are staying at for a summer vacation. There are numerous teenagers drinking and the teenage boy asks her to go upstairs to a bedroom in the house and attempts to rape her. The scene only involves one brief passionate kiss and the boy attempting to get close to the daughter. At first she thinks he is just being flirty and resists him but when she tries to leave the room she notices the door is locked and the boy has the keys in his possession. She protests and says she doesnt find it funny but the boy refuses telling her "she will love this" to unlock the door and Beethoven tied to the house manages to literally split the whole house down and the boy eventually falls into a lake along with the other guests at the party. I think some movies need scenes to be handled in a way like this but since Beethoven is supposed to be a family friendly franchise I just cant even imagine why they thought it was ok to include that scene in this movie. Even if Beethoven manages to save his female owner it is still not a scene that needs to be in this movie. I could understand and appreciate a scene being handled like that in a serious teenage drama where an attempt is made but the predator pays the hard price but this is a film for very small children and they dont need to be subjected to that. Outside of this there is no profanity that I can think of and the sequel seems to be more child oriented otherwise. As aforementioned some of the adult jokes from the first film are not here this time and animals dont seem in anywhere near the amount of peril or danger as they were in the first film. If you just fast forward the aforementioned scene there is really very little else here that is genuinely offensive or intense. The sequel seems to go more for the cutes and aiming at small children while the original had more of an edge to it. Aside from the one scene it is pretty acceptable family entertainment, although it is enjoyable and very watchable it definitely doesnt have the laughs that the first film did and this is most likely due to the edge that is missing from its predecessor. When the mom discovers that the daughter is skipping school the daughter immediately tells her I am not on drugs or pregnant until she reveals to her mom she is skipping to take care of the puppies. Might be potentially offensive to some parents but not really a huge red flag. The daughter does ask her dad where babies come from to distract him from seeing the puppies and although it could lead to some awkward family conversations from your children who might have the same questions the way Charles Grodin responds to it is pretty inoffensive and actually pretty funny. The main red flag here though is the aforementioned scene. There are a couple iffy moments but overall they are pretty mild. But that one scene just simply didnt need to exist in a film aimed for small children.

This title has:

Too much sex
Too much drinking/drugs/smoking
age 4+

I LOVE THIS DOG MOVIE IT’S THE BEST ONE I’VE EVER SEEN!

Teaches Kids About Meeting New Friends Beethoven Meets Missy Beethoven’s Girlfriend Beethoven Fell In Love With Her She Was So Cute! Beethoven Took A Walk With Missy For More Than A Minute Missy Escapes From The House Then At The End Of The Movie Missy Has Puppies That Are EXTREMELY CUTE! This 1993 Film Teaches Kids About Not Being Nervous When They See Someone New And Coporating With Anxiety About Seeing Someone New

This title has:

Great role models

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (10 ):
Kids say (4 ):

If one St. Bernard is cute, how about six of them -- that's the idea behind this sequel, which is in some ways better than the first, at least for parents. For one thing, Beethoven isn't quite so sloppy as he was last time. And father George Newton (the typically droll Charles Grodin) isn't treated like such an idiot. An 11-year-old viewer liked Beethoven's 2nd better than the first for the cute romance between Beethoven and Missy.

As in the previous film, BEETHOVEN'S 2ND is thinly plotted, essentially an excuse to put these dogs on-screen. It was in poor taste to include a scene in which daughter Ryce is nearly raped by a drunken boy on whom she has a crush in a movie otherwise suitable for young children.

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