Movies in MO

Dolittle – January 17th, 2020

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WHAT’S IT ABOUT

Dr. John Dolittle lives in solitude behind the high walls of his lush manor in 19th-century England. His only companionship comes from an array of exotic animals that he speaks to on a daily basis. But when young Queen Victoria becomes gravely ill, the eccentric doctor and his furry friends embark on an epic adventure to a mythical island to find the cure.

MOVIESinMO REVIEW

There are at least six other Dolittle films, including the original 1967 version and none of them were worth seeing more than once, and half of those aren’t worth the first viewing. Although the original did have that one song – Talk To The Animals, but the film itself nearly ended Fox Studios. So for whatever reason, someone somewhere keeps thinking they can make Dolittle into a good movie. Well, it’s 2020 and I saw the horrible half-assed trailer and thought, it can’t be that bad. It wasn’t, it was worse. About the first ten minutes were used to explain who John Dolittle is and make you empathize with him. His abilities, his life growing up, his wife, and sadly her death. I guess I’m supposed to feel sorry for the character I just met less than ten minutes ago. Personally, this is a bad sign when you think you need to explain who Dr. Dolittle is. But for the sake of the story they made up, they needed a reason for Dolittle to seclude himself from the rest of the world. Next, they needed to make up a reason for him to leave the home and sanctuary given to him by Queen Victoria for all of his humanitarian work. This was before that thing about his wife happened, of course. So after seven years living as a hermit with only a few select animals as company, he discovers the Queen has fallen ill and since his home is his as long as SHE lives, Dolittle and his furry and feathery friends set out on an adventure to find a mythical cure. As exciting as that may sound to some people, it was very dull and unnecessarily drawn out. The animals never displayed any sense of realism, no matter if they were CGI or practical effects. This was mainly due to their unrealistic movements and interactions between the doctor and themselves. Even their back and forth banter seemed forced. A polar bear in front of a fireplace because he’s always cold. A gorilla that’s afraid of his own shadow. A dog that needs glasses. The list of animal issues goes on and on, but the worst part was hearing Robert Downey Jr. talk in that soft monotone, almost emotionless voice for the entire film. I’m sure its core audience has to be under ten years old. Overall, this movie is not worth the time it took to produce it.

OUR RATING – A DO VERY LITTLE 3

MEDIA

  • Genre – Adventure
  • Street date
  • Digital – March 24th 2020
  • DVD/Blu-Ray – April 7th 2020
  • Video – 1080p
  • Screen size – 1:85.1
  • Sound – English: Dolby Atmos (Dolby Digital Plus), French: Dolby Digital Plus 7.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital Plus 7.1
  • Subtitles – English SDH, French, Spanish

Extras

  • TALK TO THE ANIMALS
    • ROBERT DOWNEY JR. & HARRY: MENTOR AND MENTEE
    • BECOMING THE GOOD DOCTOR
    • ANTONIO BANDERAS: PIRATE KING
    • THE WICKED DR. MÜDFLY
    • A MOST UNUSUAL HOUSE
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