Dolittle review

DOLITTLE:

ROBERT DOWNEY JR. SHINES, BUT THIS UNINSPIRED REBOOT GOES DOWN WITH THE SHIP! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: ** out of 4

UNIVERSAL PICTURES

Robert Downey Jr. as Dolittle

            Robert Downey Jr. (Marvel Cinematic Universe, Tropic Thunder, Sherlock Holmes 1 and 2) trades in his suit of armor for the ability to talk to animals in Dolittle, a reboot of the Doctor Dolittle film series based on Hugh Lofting’s children’s books that were previously adapted to film with the 1967 musical starring Rex Harrison and most notably the 1998 comedy version starring Eddie Murphy which had a sequel in 2001. While I’ve never read the books and haven’t seen the Rex Harrison version until just recently to prepare for this review, I have watched the two Eddie Murphy Dr. Dolittle movies as a kid and they’re fine for what they are.

            Sure, the Murphy films aren’t great and have a lot of dumb humor clearly meant for kids, but there are plenty of jokes that land, the use of actual trained animals on-set as well as puppetry are things to be admired, and Murphy’s performance as Dolittle not only delivers laughs but also sells the more heartfelt moments of those movies. Even when a joke misses, Eddie Murphy’s delivery of it can make it sound funny at times, I wish I could say the same for the jokes in Pluto Nash, but I digress. 

            Now we have this reboot of the franchise produced by Joe Roth (Alice in Wonderland (2010), Snow White & the Huntsman, Maleficent), directed by Stephen Gaghan (Abandon, Syriana, Gold), and starring Robert Downey Jr. hot off his MCU farewell with Avengers: Endgame last year, as the doctor who can communicate with animals. When the movie was first announced I was honestly quite curious to see how it would play out, it’s no secret that Downey is one of my all-time favorite actors whether he’s wearing an Iron Man suit or not, I will be in the theater watching him (That’s pretty much how I ended up in an audience for Due Date), but at the same time nobody really talks about Doctor Dolittle anymore, not since the release of Dr. Dolittle 2 back in 2001 aside from some direct-to-video sequels and spin-offs starring Kyla Pratt as Eddie Murphy’s daughter from the previous films, could Downey bring dignity back into the doctor? Eh, not quite. 

            Robert Downey Jr. brings plenty of charisma to the beloved animal-talking doctor and the film tries to be more faithful to its source material than the Eddie Murphy movies, unfortunately Dolittle is an uninspired mess that may entertain younger kids but will most likely leave older audiences less than thrilled. It’s a shame because there is a lot of potential for a re-imagining of Doctor Dolittle but instead it goes for this safe, formulaic adventure movie plot we’ve heard a million times before with very unconvincing CGI effects on par with a Coca-Cola commercial, also on a side note if your movie involves a scene where Robert Downey Jr. pulls bagpipes out of a dragon’s ass while getting farted on then your entire writing staff should be fired. 

            Set during the Victorian era, the film follows Dr. John Dolittle (Downey), a veterinarian living in England with an extraordinary gift, the ability to talk to animals. However, after his wife’s death Dolittle has shut himself out from the rest of the world with only the animals as his company. 

            That all changes when he befriends a young boy named Tommy (Harry Collett-Casualty, Ethel & Ernest, Dunkirk) and his new friend Lady Rose (Newcomer, Carmel Laniado) come knocking and inform the good doctor that Queen Victoria has mysteriously fallen ill. This forces Dolittle to gather up his animals and set off on an adventure to a mythical island in search for a cure while also rediscovering his wit and courage along the way. 

            The film also stars Antonio Banderas (Mexico trilogy, Spy Kids trilogy, Shrek franchise) as Rassouli, Michael Sheen (The Queen, Frost/Nixon, Midnight in Paris), Jim Broadbent (Longford, Moulin Rouge!, Harry Potter franchise) as Lord Thomas Badgley, Jessie Buckley (Beast, Wild Rose, Judy) as Queen Victoria, Ralph Ineson (Game of Thrones,Harry Potter franchise, The Witch) as Arnall Stubbins, Joanna Page (From Hell, Love Actually, Gavin & Stacey) as Bethan Stubbins, Kasia Smutniak (In Your Hands, From Paris with Love, Perfect Strangers) as Lily Dolittle, and features the voices of Emma Thompson (Sense & Sensibility, Men in Black 3/International, Late Night) as Polynesia, Rami Malek (The War at Home, Mr. Robot, Bohemian Rhapsody) as Chee-Chee, John Cena (The Marine, Ferdinand, Bumblebee) as Yoshi (No relation to the dinosaur from Super Mario Bros.), Kumail Nanjiani (Silicon Valley, The Big Sick, Stuber) as Plimpton, Octavia Spencer (The Help, Hidden Figures, Ma) as Dab-Dab, Tom Holland (Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spies in Disguise, Onward) as Jip, Craig Robinson (The Office, Pineapple Express, This is the End) as Kevin, Ralph Fiennes (Schindler’s List, The English Patient, Harry Potter franchise) as Barry, Selena Gomez (Wizards of Waverly Place, Hotel Transylvania trilogy, Spring Breakers) as Betsy, Marion Cotillard (La Vie en Rose, Inception, The Dark Knight Rises) as Tutu, Carmen Ejogo (Selma, It Comes at Night, Fantastic Beasts franchise) as Regine, Jason Mantzoukas (The Dictator, Parks and Recreation, John Wick: Chapter 3: Parabellum) as James, and Frances de la Tour (Rising Damp, The Book of Eli, Vicious) as Ginko-Who-Soars. 

            Overall, Dolittle may offer plenty of visual eye-candy and fart and butt jokes to entertain your kids, but for a movie with so much potential and so much talent whether on-set, behind the scenes, or in the recording studio behind it, the film ends up being disappointing, formulaic, and I hate to say it but…kind of boring (Yes, a movie with Robert Downey Jr. and talking animals is somehow boring). The plot is every adventure movie story we’ve heard a million times before in other movies with nothing new added, the human characters for the most part are forgettable aside from Downey meanwhile there are so many animal characters in this film and many of them aren’t developed very well, and the jokes miss more than they hit with an overabundance of pop-culture references so incredibly forced they make me plead for the Nirvana pirates from Pan (There, I said it!). 

            The CG animation on the animals is pretty bad and probably would have fit better if it was an entirely animated feature, but because they’re supposed to be as convincing as the human actors these pixelated critters occupying the scene ruin the illusion. None of them look like they’re really there and when you really think about it, you’re practically watching Robert Downey Jr. interacting with computer-generated cartoons, whether you liked the Eddie Murphy movies or not at least they had actual live animals and puppets interacting with him which was a lot more impressive than these PlayStation 2 animal droppings. 

            Robert Downey Jr. is clearly trying his hardest and to his credit he is the best part of the movie, but the accent he’s doing kills any and all dramatic moments to the point of unintentional hilarity. Yes, he’s done the British accent before in Sherlock Holmes, but at least it was funny there, here every time he speaks with that stupid voice, I start snickering. 

            If you have kids who really want to see it, then they might enjoy Dolittle, it’s a safe, harmless, and inoffensive animal adventure but you’ll most likely forget about it in a few days. I await the Robert Downey Jr. reboot of The Nutty Professor where Kirk Lazarus puts on a fat suit, at least that might be more entertaining than this.