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Rating: 2 out of 5
How many Dr. Dolittle films are going to come out? This is the FOURTH version, and yet, the excitement in me to see this film was pretty low. The original was okay. I remember that the doctor in that one seemed like an a**h***. Then Eddie Murphy comes along, and his version was actually pretty good but a little disgusting at some points. Now we all have a little Dolittle in us. We talk to our animals all the time, and they will respond. I can talk to my own animal. I talk to my turtle every day. I am fluent in turtle. I am also fluent in cat and dog. Cowboy and I have “deep” conversations. Now, this is a review on Dolittle, and boy are you in for a ride of seeing animals talk again.
I want to get this out the way first before reviewing this film. Now I saw on Rotten Tomatoes that this film got a lower review than Cats. I have seen Cats and to be worse than that film is a freakin’ accomplishment. Now, after seeing Dolittle, I don’t see how this film is worse than Cats. This film had no cat orgies in it. Is the plot all over the place? Yes! Could the acting have been better? Yep! But once again, there were no cat orgies, and you know what is going on.
The beginning of Dolittle is probably the best part. It is actually a really great cartoon that sets up the story of this film. Several years before the start of the story, John Dolittle (Downey) and his girlfriend at the time set up a sanctuary called Dolittle Manor in Victorian England. They treat all animals around England while also going on many adventures, helping all animals in the world. After many experiences together, they decide to get married. Dolittle’s wife goes on another adventure and dies at sea while exploring for a mythical island.
The actual movie begins several years after his wife’s death. Dolittle (Downey) has become a hermit, hiding away behind the high walls of Dolittle Manor. Only a few animals live on the manor grounds while helping with the day to day life of Dolittle. Dolittle’s life turns upside down when Queen Victoria (Jessie Buckley) falls gravely ill. Dolittle is reluctant in helping until he finds out that if the queen dies, he will lose his manor, and all the animals that he loves will be thrown out on the street. With this new revelation, Dolittle sets sail on an epic adventure to find a mythical island with the help of a new but unwanted apprentice named Stubbins (Collett).
First, let’s talk about the wonderful story of Dolittle. The story is pretty much the SAME EXACT THING as all other fantasy stories. We have some crisis in the kingdom. OMG, what mess is going on in the kingdom that only ONE PERSON can ever solve? But wait, the reason there is a crisis because somebody high up in the kingdom wants the throne for themselves because they obviously think they can do things way better. Just like always, someone comes along and gets the one person who can solve all the problems. The person goes off and gets some magical item that saves the person and kingdom at the last possible moment. Yet, I still don’t see how this movie is reviewed lower than Cats! At least you could understand this film. At least the viewer knew what was going on. Was it a mess? Yep, but there were no cat orgies!
Now the story and flow of this movie are a complete mess, but it is a little kid movie. This isn’t some Academy Award winning film. This movie is tailored to kids and shouldn’t be exactly rocket science. The animals talk and are actually quite enjoyable. The whole scene with the squirrel and kid is pretty entertaining. Yea, there are MAJOR plot holes, but one can pretty much fill in the blanks. The age of the original idea is gone. Now, this film had Dolittle’s wife having a journal with the exact location of the mythical tree that can heal everything. As usual, she dies at sea. Somehow and someway on the planet earth, her journal with perfect writing manages to float or get back to her father in pristine shape after her ship sunk at sea. That is a head-scratcher. Now, her daddy is the king of some island, and he hates Dolittle for “killing” his daughter and wants to kill him for it. The plot thickens. Dun-dun-dunnnnnnn! But hey, besides a giant a** month in the original, this one has a freakin’ dragon. Now, if you have a dragon in a movie, two things need to be seen: A) someone needs to get eatin’ and B) someone needs to get burned to a crisp.
Now the performances were okay. Once again, far better than Cats. Robert Downey Jr. was quite strange in this role. It was his first role from Iron Man, so he has some rust. When Downey first came on screen, he straight up looked like Robin Williams did when he came out of Jumanji. Looked like he hadn’t bathed in years! Now Downey played the good doctor like he had absolutely NO SENSE whatsoever but was heartbroken. I got the feel of the performance, but it just didn’t work. It felt off and not quite right.
Now, Michael Sheen, as Dr. Blair Müdfly was actual a bore. He tried. He should get a participation trophy for trying. It’s not like he did a terrible job. Its just the same role we see from all other villains. He went to school with Dolittle and has a deep obsession but states he doesn’t. He “tries” to be conniving, but it just doesn’t work. Better luck next time.
The film had so many stars as voice actors that it tried its best to cram in everyone. Some people got like a sentence, and that was it. Should’ve done something else with your two minutes in the film. Now it is hard to mess up voice acting. Yet, this film somehow does it. Now maybe its just me, but if the film is set in the 1800s or so, perhaps everyone should almost resemble that period. My question is, how the hell does a polar bear sound like they are from New York? The bear said, bro. Bro! Really?! Bro! Thank you, John Cena, for your Bro moments!
Dolittle is not the greatest movie on earth, but it sure isn’t the worst movie ever. It is a little kid movie, and they will enjoy it even if you don’t. There are a few laughs and a pretty good adventure, but besides that, there are other things to watch that have talking animals.
