SunnyHello Nice effects though.

TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

FirstWitch A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

chicagopoetry I was looking for something family friendly for Thanksgiving and came across Benji the Hunted. I didn't even know this film existed. Just about the entire film is absent of any human beings. The animals do the acting. Benji of course dazzles with all his tricks, but it's just as remarkable that they were able to get the cougar cubs to act the way they did as well as the wolf and other animals. It must have taken quite a few takes to get it all right, since you can't exactly "train" a cougar cub to do what you want it to do. There are a few demented scenes that small children might find shocking, like the cougar mother getting shot, one of the cubs getting swept away by a hawk and the wolf being tricked into plunging to its death off a cliff. Since the film is absent of any plot other than Benji trying to get the poor cubs to another cougar so that she can adopt them, some of the scenes drag on way too long, like the ten minutes it takes Benji to carry the cubs up the mountain in his mouth, but otherwise this is perfect fun for animal lovers and to keep the kids busy.

Ambuj Saxena Benji the Hunted is a movie that will surely bring a warm joy to animal lovers. The biggest strength of the movie is the detailed portrayal of emotions by the animal star-cast. It is nearly impossible to miss the perfection with which director Joe Camp captures even tiny details like the trembling legs of cougar kittens that followed Benji, the innocence of their faces, or even their spontaneous playful nature. The movie is not about Benji performing breath-taking complicated maneuvers to save the day, rather how Benji faces the day-to-day challenges of living in the wild with the added responsibility of four orphaned cougar kittens. The challenges of the wild are plentiful, enough to keep your eyes hooked to the screen. Yet it's not a fast-paced thriller which would have cost the movie its credibility as a realistic one. The human actors in the movie have very limited role, and the director wastes no time in bundling them out of limelight. Benji again emerges as a hero, showing a big "human" heart, and the message of peace and non-violence is very effectively communicated in the movie. The background score is average, yet does its job efficiently by not distracting the audience from the movie. It is a family movie suitable for all age groups, and a recommended watch for all animal lovers.

cwilson-46 a number of times. Just happened to come upon again this past weekend and I was really not in the mood for a tear jerker, but I sat back and watched it again.What a wonderful film. The dedication that went into the training of these animals and the time it must of took.This film tells a wonderful story of a mutt with love in his heart and the courage to take over a situation that would be very hard for the rest of us to do.Some of us can't take care of and protect our own children sometimes, imagine getting four more kids added onto your waist belt and then having to protect them from predators that walk on four legs with giant fangs or slide upon the ground in quiet with poison in their mouths. Never mind the two legged predators you would have to deal with. Then there is Mother Nature and the other elements of the forest to worry about. Then food - oh my goodness. This little dogs heart is the size of the Earth. Thank you Benji. Thank you for teaching me a little something for when I have kids.

charles oh Every once in a while there comes a great cinematic masterpiece that encases some of the most engaging acting, writing, cinematography, direction, and production design a valid work of art should entail. Benji: The Hunted, has become the benchmark in cinematic mastery that all films that follow will struggle to achieve. The vast, majestic cinematography echoes the brilliance of nature, much like Kundun and Ishtar. The acting rises well above thespian mastery with brilliant nuances displayed by stars Benji, Lion cub 1, Lion cub 2, Lion cub 3, Lion cub 4, the bear, and the coyote. The true mark of cinematic genius lies in the protagonist's struggle against its antagonist, and the eagle's portrayal of the villain is nothing short of diabolically genius. The full character arc of Benji's character, Benji, tells the story of an inner soul struggling with emotion, as well as a sense of duty. While many actors act with their movements, true genius actors act with their eyes. With every blink and vacant stare throughout the film, Benji told a million stories. Every film struggles to achieve its primary goal: to entertain. But every once in a while there comes a cinematic work of art that does more than entertain, it touches lives... it monuments human emotion... it breaks through barriers once thought to be unbreakable and much as in Benji: The Hunted... it very may well change the world. I thank you.