Hey guys and welcome to new 2020 movie review! This one right here is a bit of a catch up as it came out all the way back in January (Ah January when movies were releasing in theaters on the regular) which feels like ages ago but it’s true. It was seen as the first major star vehicle for Robert Downey Jr. after Avengers Endgame yet unfortunately it ended being panned by critics and became a huge bomb at the box office (ironically though because it released this year out of all times it remains one of the biggest grossers of 2020). Still though I was actually somewhat intrigued by this one largely because I thought it actually did have some potential to be a solid family film, and I like how it wasn’t trying to remake the Eddie Murphy Dr. Dolittle movies (or the 1967 flick starring Rex Harrison) and instead was aiming to be more of an adventure type flick. So now that I was finally able to check it out I can definitely say that while I didn’t hate it, it felt more like a missed opportunity more than anything. Now let’s join up with Dr. Dolittle, and his animal gang to figure out what hindered this project’s true potential and why.
The movie starts off with a beautifully animated prologue which tells us about the titular Doctor himself, John Dolittle, who is a Welsh veterinarian with the rare ability to speak to animals. He becomes renowned for his work as he, and his wife, Lily, go all around the world rescuing different animals. Things change however when Lily dies at sea as John isolates himself from human society, and lives locked up in his manor with his animal companions keeping him company. Some time passes by and we meet a young boy named Tommy Stubbins who is not like the others in his family in that he doesn’t like killing animals. He accidently ends up wounding a red squirrel on a hunt and with the help of Dolittle’s parrot, Polynesia, he is able to find where the doctor resides and takes the squirrel there. He’s not the only one there though as Queen Victoria sends her maid of honor, Lady Rose, to summon Dr. Dolittle to help find a cure for her sickness and while he initially refuses he is convinced by Polly to take on the task. He finds out that the Queen has been poisoned by some sort of nightshade and that must go on a journey to find the only cure, the magical fruit of Eden, which was the same journey that Lily went one when he tragically passed away. So now with his animal crew along with an aspiring apprentice in Tommy (whom John reluctantly allows to come) they must set off to find the cure before Dolittle’s rival, Blair Mudly, catches up to them and it becomes too late.
From what I heard this movie faced a ton of production troubles with there being a lot of re shoots, re writes of the scripts, and creative differences and unfortunately it shows in the final product. What really hurts this movie the most is how it always feels so rushed, and incoherent to the point where it feels like the film is just moving from scene to scene without much of a coherent structure. This deeply hurts the flow of the feature as it makes everything feel undercooked on the whole and it hurt my investment in the proceedings as well. It’s a real shame because there was potential here for a really fun family adventure movie with a good message at the center of it in terms of not pushing yourself away from others and learning to move forward in life and when the film does take the time to look into John’s state of mind or deal with these themes it’s actually is pretty decent. Yet the film often seems more focused on mining it’s talking animals for laughs and the comedy is mixed bag on the whole here. While there are some funny lines here, and there, and some of the slapstick can be pretty amusing, there are also plenty of broad jokes that are geared more toward a younger audience and it just didn’t really appeal to me (funny enough I wasn’t too bothered by the concept of the infamous climactic beat involving a dragon even though it was still a pretty unfunny flatulent joke). One thing I do appreciate is that at the very least, save for some modern slang used here and there, the flick mostly avoids making a whole bunch of pop culture references, and jokes as well as playing random pop music (save for the end credits song sung by Sia) that feel out of place in a period piece setting, which can be common in talking animal pictures like this so there’s that. Still though I’ve heard a number of people describe this as similar to Ducktales in certain ways and I’ll admit that that’s pretty accurate… it’s just not nearly as well written or as compelling.
I will admit though that even with all of the film’s faults it still does have some enjoyable moments in it and a couple of exciting action sequences to pass the time. I actually did enjoy the part where Tommy has to catch up to Dr. Dolittle’s boat before it leaves with the help of a fox, and giraffe or when Dolittle, and his companions must try and get help from a whale nearby while under attack by enemy fire as they are well constructed and show signs of the exciting adventure this movie could’ve been (also helping is Danny Elfman’s score which helps liven things up) . And while yes I am baffled as to why this movie had to cost $175 million (no I’m not kidding) the movie does have some impressive production design that fits in with the time period, and the CGI is okay for the most part as while it’s not the most convincing animal special effects I’ve ever seen, the animals themselves are still expressive in their facial features and it works for the most part, even though there are times where things may look a bit to green screeny. Now as for the star of the picture well Robert Downey Jr. is appropriately eccentric as Dr. Dolittle himself and is amusing as the know it all doctor who still has a lot of insecurities, even adding a lot of physical mannerisms to the role. His accent may be bizarre (not sure how to describe it actually) but oddly enough that bizarre aspect is somewhat enjoyable to watch and Downey Jr. does well with the quieter character moments and was a good pick for this role. I do wish that his relationship with Tommy was fleshed out more though as Harry Collett is fine in the role (the performance gets better as the film goes along) while the latter’s romantic plot thread with Carmel Laniado’s Lady Rose is barely an afterthought and just feels like it’s well “there”. Still though I actually did find Michael Sheen to be weirdly enjoyable as Mudfly as he gets a lot of the best laughs of the movie with his jealousy towards Dolittle, and Sheen seems to be having a lot of fun in the role. It was also neat seeing Antonio Banderas as bandit King, Rassouli (one of the more interesting characters), as he’s always a great screen presence, and Jim Broadbent a chairman of the Queen’s, Lord Thomas Badgley, as while the character isn’t much, I do enjoy watching Broadbent. As for the animals well the cast is full of A-list celebrities voicing them and most of them are fine. In particular I think Rami Malek was really good as Chee-Chee, a gorilla whose always scared of everything, as his little arc does have a good message to it, and Kumail Nanjiani as an ostrich names Plimpton, and John Cena as a polar bear named Yoshi do have some fun interactions. Emma Thompson is mostly there to provide exposition, and discipline John as Polly while Craig Robinson, and Jason Mantzoukas show off their comedic skills as a squirrel, and dragonfly respectively who both have amusing gags. Oh and Ralph Fiennes is a tiger named Barry and his scene with Dolittle is so weird (essentially he’s going through some kind of emotional therapy) that I couldn’t help but laugh at it. At the very least most of the animals do have distinct personalities and actually provide some entertainment value.
Yes Dolittle is very much hindered by it’s rushed pacing that hurts it’s flow, a lot of underdeveloped characters, and relationships, some unfunny jokes, and a lot of missed opportunities. However I wouldn’t call it a complete disaster as it does have it’s enjoyable moments, the action can be fun, the CGI is okay, Robert Downey Jr. is fun in the role, I did enjoy a number of the supporting players, and it’s an entirely harmless watch for families. It’s more of a frustrating affair more than anything as there is a lot of potential for this property to be a fun franchise, but the execution leaves a lot to be desired (heck one almost wishes that we got a movie version of the opening instead). Still though I don’t think it’s quite as dreadful as many made it out to be as I found it not dissimilar to the Emoji Movie (although I did like this one slightly more) in that it’s a pretty harmless mediocrity that’s just good enough to make me wish I liked it more.
Rating: C
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