Shane (Josh Hutcherson) is a boy whose dad (played by Bruce Greenwood) is the fire captain for Engine 55. In the beginning of the movie, Josh skips his English class and almost gets away from the spying firefighters until a mysterious dog named Rexx jumps on him, allowing the firefighters to nab him and bring him to his dad.

Who is Rexx? Rexx is a famous actor dog who accidentally fell out of a plane while doing a skydiving stunt. Because he got Shane caught, Shane first thinks Rexx is
the dog from down under, and I don’t mean Australia.
Shane is not doing so well because his Uncle Mark and his dog were killed a few months ago in a fire, and he lives only with his dad. (His mom is not dead, for once, just divorced). He and his dad fight, he skips school, and he hates his new dog.

Meanwhile mysterious fires are happening all over Engine 55’s area and no one knows who is causing them...(Cue the mysterious music: duh duh duh dahhhh). Engine 55 is in trouble because it can’t put out the fires in time. There is a rivalry with another fire station, and the mayor is threatening to close the firehouse. Shane does have a love interest with a girl at school, whose mom works at the other fire station.

I liked the action stunts in this movie, especially the part where Shane begins making friends with his new dog and teaches him to do stunts. Although there was quite a bit of drama in the movie, there was still enough comedy to make me like it too.

Will Rexx’s old owner find him and take him back? Will Shane and his dad start to get along? Will they close Engine 55 Fire Station and break up the gang? See this fun family film to find out. Rated PG for sequences of action peril, some mild crude humor and language.

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