Dolittle

RATING: C-

NOTE: Well, obviously it has been quite a while since anything was posted here. Three guesses as to why! Yeah, literally nothing has been in theaters recently... and for a while, my free movie rental service by which I usually watch newly released movies on DVD (aka my local library) was closed thanks to you-know-what. But it's back, and therefore I'm back... at least for now.

Here is the third iteration/adaptation of the Dr. Dolittle series. Even if you weren't familiar with the books, you've probably at least heard of the more recent adaptations featuring Eddie Murphy, which were (allegedly) more loose adaptations. Even though the results and reception have been mixed across the various iterations, I guess the concept of an animal doctor that can talk to animals is appealing enough that they keep trying.

This version stars Robert Downey Jr in the lead role, in his first big post-Avengers role. And in this version, Dolittle's become a recluse after his wife died out at sea. But he is forcibly called back into action when Queen Victoria takes ill and he has to set out on a voyage to find the cure... at an island that has yet to be discovered. Oh, and he'll have a young apprentice along with him.

Normally, I wouldn't have an issue with RDJ playing this role; if one is wanting to emphasize the more peculiar traits of the character, it's quite a good casting. The problem is the bizarre accent he employs here. It works for the more comedic/outlandish moments, but not so much when he's trying to be serious--which is especially bizarre, since the original draft of this *was* apparently more serious before Universal interfered and forced them to throw in more humor to make it more kid-oriented.

Yes, with the level of studio interference at play here, this film was likely at least somewhat doomed from the start. But this isn't as awful as most of the reviews would lead one to believe. It actually is genuinely funny at times, and it does have a pretty good cast. RDJ does better here during the more comedic bits; besides RDJ, we have Antonio Banderas, Michael Sheen (who is sadly rather wasted here), and Jim Broadbent in live roles, with the voices of Emma Thompson, Rami Malek, John Cena, Ralph Fiennes, Tom Holland, Marion Cotillard, and a lot more. And the first two-thirds or so are generally just harmless--if forgettable--fun.

The problem is, the film's not particularly great either. Besides the issue of Downey's accent, we also have the issue of a weakly put together plot, as well as a villain with ridiculously petty motivations and an overuse of CGI. And the more lowbrow parts of the humor do fall rather flat--perhaps most egregiously a very forced joke about "Dolittle going doo-doo" (which he didn't, making it even more stupid). There's also a couple of unfortunately underused characters.

It's all capped off with a ridiculous final act where the final obstacle turns out to require Dolittle's doctor abilities... which would actually work and make sense in context, if what actually happened wasn't so gross (people who already viewed this know exactly what I'm talking about). By the way, they never really properly explain the MacGuffin they get afterwards that is the healing... uh... elixir?

Dolittle is ultimately another case of death by studio interference, as ironically the very things that they tried to add to "fix" it were the most criticized part of the whole thing. Would the original cut have been any better? Maybe not dramatically, but at least the final act wouldn't have happened the way it did, and then this thing might've been a lot more salvageable. What we got might be a little over-hated, but it's still a bit of a mess and a wasted opportunity.