“Underdog” may be a little under-developed and under-written, but what else do you expect? The movie is about a super dog, with powers derivative of Superman and a rhyming wit of Dr. Seuss. Furthermore, this super dog talks.
With all that said, this movie is just about what you would expect it to be. It moves along with a cartoonlike pace, developing little with regards to dialogue or plot development. In this sense, it is much like the original ’60s cartoon, which had to cram enough plot points in short segments.
The use of special effects used to make the animals’ mouths move like humans, though, was a decision that caused the movie to go over the top. Animals’ mouths obviously don’t move like ours (unless they’re in cartoons), so why to modern moviemakers persist on animating them that way?
The filmmaking trend makes one nostalgic for the old, non-special effects-laden days of “Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey,” where the animals seemed to talk to each other telepathically because, at that point, special effects were not sound enough to make their mouths move. The audience just assumed they talked to each other in some strange, unexplained animal way and that was the end of it.
However, the biggest flaw of this film was its odd choice of casting. Jason Lee, of Kevin Smith film fame and “My Name is Earl,” was an odd choice to fulfill the voiceover roll of a cheesy talking dog. James Belushi, too, was an odd choice and seemed uninspired throughout the film.
Furthermore, the film’s main villains, Peter Dinklage and Patrick Warburton, seemed to be battling each other for screen time rather than complementing each other’s villainous characteristics.
But all in all, these flaws in the film will only bother film aficionados of the sophisticated. This film is geared mainly for children (it is a Disney film, after all) and maybe a few old-time fans of the original series.
Kids: There’s no need to fear. Underdog is here.
