{"id":19816,"date":"2020-01-17T11:41:27","date_gmt":"2020-01-17T19:41:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=19816"},"modified":"2020-01-17T11:41:27","modified_gmt":"2020-01-17T19:41:27","slug":"dolittle-talks-to-animals-serves-a-dogs-breakfast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=19816","title":{"rendered":"DOLITTLE Talks to Animals, Serves a Dog\u2019s Breakfast"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/24_0002_D-merged.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-15075\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You know that something must have gone very, very wrong with your movie when its big climax involves a character desperately trying to clear a bowel obstruction (sorry if that piece of information might come as something of a spoiler, but it\u2019s better to know these details in advance than experience a blockage without warning). This week sees the release of <em>Dolittle<\/em>, a big-budget remake of the 1967 Academy Award-winning family film, as well as another popular series of features starring Eddie Murphy some 20 years ago. Sadly, it\u2019s unlikely that the newest version will earn any accolades. It\u2019s a mess made exclusively for the youngest of kids\u2026 and it may not even make a lasting impression with those viewers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/dolittle-downey-boat-FIXED-1024x580.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-19823\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">An intro explains that Dr. Dolittle (Robert Downey Jr.) is a\nveterinarian of sorts who is famous for his ability to communicate with animals\nand lives on a large estate given to him by Queen Victoria (Jessie Buckley).\nHowever, after the tragic death of his adventurer wife, Dolittle has closed his\ndoors and become a recluse. That changes when two children arrive with separate\nrequests. Tommy (Harry Collett) wants the doctor to help with an animal he\naccidentally injured, while Lady Rose (Carmel Laniado) reports that the Queen\nis deathly ill. Dolittle charts a course with his animal friends to a distant\nisland in order to find a cure and save the monarch. However, his progress is\ncontinually slowed by the Queen\u2019s physician, Dr. Mudfly (Michael Sheen), who\nappears to be trailing the heroes across the high seas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This was clearly a very expensive movie to produce. It\u2019s nicely shot with bright colors and lavish, elaborate sets as they arrive on fantastic and, at times, pirate-filled tropical islands. The one other thing the film has going for it are excellent visual effects. The computer-generated, talking animals generally look impressive, with plenty of talent providing the voices (including the likes of Emma Thompson, Rami Malek, John Cena, Kumail Nanjiani, Octavia Spenser, Ralph Fiennes and many more). When the gorillas, parrots, polar bears and others are given something amusing to do, they\u2019re adorable to watch &#8211; unfortunately, this occurs far too infrequently. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/dolittle-downey-banderaas-FIXED-1024x551.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-19824\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yet, while a joke here or there does work (Antonio Banderas shows\nup in the final third and makes effective and comedic use of props, including a\nmachete), just about everything else lands with a crushing thud. Despite being\na period picture, the animal lines are littered with anachronisms and modern\nreferences. And even the humans, including star Downey Jr., are forced into\nunnecessarily and exaggerated gesturing and arm waving, making little\nconnection with viewers. The final act ends up resorting to scatological humor\n(including the aforementioned climax) to try and eke out a laugh or two.\nOverall, the script\u2019s not-so-amusing gags and comedic timing just doesn\u2019t hit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Additionally, the story feels rushed and choppy; even the\naction isn\u2019t particularly well delivered or pulse-pounding. A potentially\nexciting scene involving the protagonists breaking into a castle by scaling a\ntall wall actually end ups being narrated by the lead. It\u2019s as if the makers didn\u2019t\nwant to provide any thrills, and only intended to get the story point and sequence\nover with as quickly as possible. If one were to guess, there was originally a\nmuch longer movie here that has been severely edited down to its barest bones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Dolittle-squirrel.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-19820\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Little kids may enjoy watching the nicely animated animals\ntalk and act cute. However, most adults will find the picture to be a lost\nopportunity. There\u2019s plenty that could have been done with a cast of talking fauna\nand their eccentric human compatriot traveling the world. Whether things\nweren\u2019t working early in the shoot or the changes came later during the editing\nprocess, the film appears to have been heavily tinkered with. It only results\nin even stranger scenarios that highlight all of the problems present in this\nadaptation. In the end, <em>Dolittle<\/em> may talk to the animals, but can only serve\nup a dog\u2019s breakfast. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>You know that something must have gone very, very wrong with your movie when its big climax involves a character desperately trying to clear a bowel obstruction (sorry if that piece of information might come as something of a spoiler, but it\u2019s better to know these details in advance than experience a blockage without warning). [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":19817,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[198,4236,6022,6023,6024,6025,7283,13833,16846,17151],"class_list":["post-19816","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-198","tag-childrens-film","tag-dolittle","tag-dolittle-film-review","tag-dolittle-movie-review","tag-dolittle-review","tag-family","tag-michael-sheen","tag-remake","tag-robert-downey-jr"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19816","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19816"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19816\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}