Ace Ventura Jr.: Pet Detective

Plot

Ventura must follow in his father's (Ace Ventura Sr.'s) footsteps to save his mother from going to jail.

In the beginning, Ace is chasing a rat. He catches it, and walks straight into the alligator habitat. Later in a dream Ace sees a panda (Ting Tang) being captured. Soon his mother is blamed for the theft. She asks if she can make one phone call. She calls Rex Ventura, Ace's paternal grandfather. Rex tells Ace the history of the Ventura Family and their relationship with animals. Rex Ventura is an elderly man with several animals such as a cat, a turtle and a dog which Ace thinks is dead..

On his mother's trial, Ace presented evidence that proves that his mother didn't commit the crime; however, the Ranger, the one that Ace doesn't like, dismissed the evidence.

At school the next day, Ace hears that many of his classmates, including his crush Laura (Emma Lockhart), have lost their pets. Laura has lost her pet emerald green koi fish. Ace goes to school the next day and talks to a boy nicknamed A-Plus. A-Plus has a hidden lab in his locker, which Ace uses as his office. They believe Dr. Sickinger (Cullen Douglas) has stolen the panda because he has created a site called Pandafanatic. Sickinger is a bit insane. It turns out that he used to work for Quenton Pennington Jr. (Reed Alexander), a rich kid whose family motto is, "What a Pennington wants a Pennington gets." Dr. Sickenger is found to be innocent, so Ace must look for a new culprit. In the end Ace finds that Pennington, Sr. (Brian Patrick Clarke) stole Ting Tang and other famous animals (Tabby the tabby, Princess the lap dog, Freedom the hawk, and Callypso the magic horse), and Pennington Jr. stole Ace's classmates' pets. His mother's name is finally cleared and is rewarded for his heroics.

Ace's father does not appear in this film. Until Rex comes in to look after Ace, Ace's mom simply told her son that his dad disappeared on a business trip without going into greater detail. However, just before she's taken to jail (before Rex comes in), Mrs. Ventura further explains that Ace's father had rescued a group of endangered animals and was flying them to safety in an airplane, but the plane disappeared somewhere over the Bermuda Triangle. Ace Ventura Sr. was never seen or heard from again after that.

Cast

Reception

The film received largely negative critical reception. Film Threat gave the film 1½ stars out of 5, stating "It's disappointing that this is the next, and most likely final step of the Ace Ventura franchise." Common Sense Media gave it 2 out of 5 stars, summing the film up as a "Funny, animal-loving kid lost in crude script." Movie Metropolis also gave a negative review, stating "What was pretty juvenile in the first place becomes literally juvenile in this straightforward kids' romp. If I were a kid, I might like it. But I'm not a kid, and I didn't."