Dolittle Is A Fun Yet Mediocre Family-Friendly Adventure That Works Best When Aimed At Young Audiences

     

      Bringing a beloved children's classic back to life on the big screen and rebooting it can be both a daunting and challenging task as the filmmakers behind the newer version have to not only live up to the legacy of the brands name, but make the story their own along with adding freshness to it. In the case of Rex Harrison's 1967 classic Doctor Dolittle, the standard was set for future remakes to meet with their different portrayals of the character. The first attempt at remaking the classic story came in 1998 with Eddie Murphy's​ hit remake of the same title. The 1998 remake of Doctor Dolittle, proved to be such a bit hit with audiences that it led to the spawning of two sequels, the first of which was released in 2001, followed by a direct to video spin-off sequel released in 2006, this time without Eddie Murphy in the main lead but his characters daughter Maya Dolittle (Played by Kyla Pratt). With the old Doctor Dolittle franchise having wore out it's welcome, Universal Studios sought to reimagine the classic story of an eccentic Doctor who can talk to and aid animals through a different lense. Serving as a reboot of Rex Harrison's Doctor Dolittle film, the new version which stars Robert Downey Jr. in the main lead aims to reintroduce the character to today's generation of young kids along with his modern comedy counterparts. For young audiences, the new Doctor Dolittle may be entertaining and appealing enough to enchant them with the films main character, as well as his relationship with this animal counterparts. For others, the film while not being as terrible as what many critics and audiences make it out to be, suffers from having far too many familiar subplots that's been done before in previous films with the overall film struggling to find a life of it's own. As a movie, Dolittle appears to fare its strongest when it aims to entertain its young target audience, elevating it to the point of being watchable largely thanks to the charismatic performance of its main star and the films noble intention to provide a harmless family-friendly adventure for its audience.

      Based on the titular character created by High Lofting, along with being inspired by the authors second Doctor Dolittle book titled The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle, the plot for Dolittle centers around a veterinarian (Played by Robert Downey Jr.), who carries an unusual ability of being able to converse with animals, being granted a piece of land to use as an animal sanctuary, where he can care for animals that can protect
themselves. When his wife dies in a tragic accident at sea, he retreats and becomes a recluse until he's called upon to save the life of a poisoned young Queen Victoria, otherwise him and his animals will lose their home. On paper, Dolittle's story sounds good and has potential to take the character in a deeper direction than what the previous film adaptations of the character have presented. The ultimate disappointment with the film is how the film teases such an ambitious yet promising desire to give a more personalized version of Dolittle's story but instead opts for a generic one in which the main character must save his animals and their home along with rescuing a person of loyalty from a sinister plot that's unraveling behind the scenes. It's not that Dolittle's plot isn't an interesting one, it's that it's plot has too many elements that feel generic and have been directly lifted from other films. While the overall film itself is mildly entertaining at best, it lacks inspiration and drive behind its storytelling with Robert Downey Jr's performance essentially being the films main saving grace. While his animal counterparts can be both charming and fun to watch at times with the performances of the voice actors along with their personalities, they lack the memorability of ones from Eddie Murphy's films with examples being Dolittle's dog from the first film or the bear Archie he helps in the second. While those films certainly weren't perfect, they succeeded at being harmless fun for young audiences and families.
Dolittle aims to be the same though one gets the feeling upon watching it that both the cast and filmmakers were trying to add something special to the film, even if it doesn't quite meet the intent for it that both the filmmakers as well as Universal pictures had in mind. The film can best be described as being a mixed bag as young audiences are sure to get a kick out of seeing Iron Man play such a whacky character like Dolittle, along with seeing him interact with the live talking animals, though they may not find much interest in the films general plot. If one looks at Dolittle through the lense of being a young child experiencing it then it works just fine as being a fun adventure, that carries with it a reasonable dose of heart. However, if one is expecting Dolittle
to be full of substance as a film, than one will see that it comes across as appearing rather weak despite an impressive visual style.

      The films key ingredient as well as it's main saving grace, is the acting performance of its main star. With the role of Doctor Dolittle, Robert Downey Jr. delivers a whacky yet likable performance as the gifted vet, who goes from experiencing loss to caring for animals. One does question why he chose to portray the character as being bumbly with the end result being a strange yet effective performance. With his role, Downey creates a character that young people can look up to while flat out saving the film from being a complete mess as the film struggles when he's not around. His portrayal of the character is different than what Rex Harrison and Eddie Murphy brought to their films, making the distinctness that each actor brings to their portrayals ultimately what makes them worth watching. While it can be argued that Downey Jr. goes overboard with the mumbling aspect of his character, he does his absolute best to inject some fun and energy to the film when it becomes clear that it's severely lacking in it at points. Michael Sheen does the best he can as Dolittle's rival (Also serving as being the films main antagonist), Dr. Blair Mudfly, an old schoolmate of Dolittle who gradually becomes impressed by his special ability to communicate with animals. Sheen knows exactly what type of film he's in and chooses to make the most of it by hamming up the camp aspect of his character. Other strong supporting roles from the human actors are Harry Collet as Tommy Stubbins, Dolittle's self-appointed apprentice. Collet shines in his supporting role and showcases strong chemistry working alongside Downey Jr. Carmel Laniado also impresses like Collet in the role of the Queen's maid of honor Lady Rose, who also becomes Tommy's friend. Collet and Laniado work well together with the audience buying into their fairly convincing friendship/romance. Antonio Banderas makes the best of his minimal yet pivotal role as the king of pirates and Lily's father King Rassouli, with Banderas making his character fun, likable, and understanding to a certain extent. Other noteworthy supporting roles are Jim Broadbent as the Queen's dishonest chairmen Lord Thomas Badgley, and Jessie Buckley as Queen Victoria. As for Dolittle's animal counterparts, the film features a star-studded cast of voices ranging from Emma Thompson as Polynesia a wise and brave macaw whose Dolittle's most trusted advisor, Rami Malek as the cowardly but noble gorilla Chee-Chee, John Cena as the happy-go-lucky though consistently cold polar bear named Yoshi, Octavia Spencer as the the helpful yet deluded duck with a metal leg named Dab-Dab, Tom Holland as the loyal lurcher Jip who wears glasses, Ralph Fiennes as the aggressive tiger Barry who shares a past with Dolittle, along with a desire to please his mom, Selena Gomez as the friendly giraffe Betsy, and Marrion Cotillard as the French fox Tutu. Like the human actors, the voice actors/actresses of the animal counterparts all work well together in their attempts to inject some much-anticipated charm to the film with the casts strong chemistry. It helps that the voice actors are all diverse in both their talents and skills, that they help to make the scenes more interesting and fun to watch when the film stalls at certain points. The cast for Dolittle remains one of the films strongest points, as well as being its primary saving grace as the talents of all those involved make the film at the very least watchable.

      As far as the films directing goes, the work done by Stephen Gaghan is nothing impressive to write home about, but feels rather serviceable for the type of family film that Dolittle comes across as being. Given that Gaghan's previous work includes hard-hitting dramas such as Traffic and
Syriana, it's interesting to see him take a story that's the exact opposite of his past efforts and give it a complete child-like atmosphere with a rebellious nature to it as the film doesn't exactly fit with the flow of recent mainstream releases. The strength of Gaghan's effort as director lies within the films visual elements such as it's cinematography, art-set decoration, and costume design. These elements all blend well together and help bring the audience into the films time period. The usage of CGI for the animals is convincing for the most part despite moments where its realism goes into question. Two moments in the film where the CGI is effectively used in a way that makes it appealing, are the films opening where the audience gets a lengthy sequence explaining the origins of Dolittle and how he became a recluse from society due to the loss of his wife. The second sequence involves Dolittle caring for a dragon, who could pass as being a distant relative of Smaug from The Hobbit trilogy due to both sharing similar physical features. The films editing keeps the story progressively moving for it's 100 minute running time, never making the film feel as if it's boring nor moving too slow. Considering that Gaghan feels like a rather left-field choice for helming this type of film compared to his previous body of work, his directing with Dolittle proves to be surprising serviceable as he gives the film the appropriate tone the plot and main character requires in regards to being both strange and unusual. The main issue with his directing however, lies within the fact that the movie appears to be confused on which specific audience it aims for with the film appearing to specifically target young kids, but carries with it a plot that aims for older audiences with a mixture of Ace Ventura meets Indiana Jones with a touch of Sherlock Holmes to it. One gets the feeling upon watching Dolittle that there's two different films trapped together in the version that audiences ultimately received for better or worse.

      Another element that helps reinforce the idea that the film is confused on whether it wants to be a kids film or one for mature audiences, is the films script written by Gaghan, Dan Gregor, and Doug Mand. The script for Dolittle aims to be a comedy adventure aimed for kids, that carries with it a solving a mystery aspect to it's story. At the core of the film, the story is essentially about being different as evidenced by Dolittle's character with the overall message saying that it's fine to be unusual so long as it's in a positive way. The film explores themes that pertain to the death of a loved one, differences, adventure, guilt, abandonment, courage, confidence, teamwork, and friendship with an overall message that says by helping others, we can help ourselves. The films adventure aspects along with Dolittle's relationship with his animals, gives audiences the belief that the film was aimed for children. The film has numerous comedic moments, that fall into the category of being completely strange and random in an attempt to generate numerous laughs with examples such as a scene involving a whale flipping off humans with its fin, followed by a scene where the main character is disimpacting a dragon's clogged bowels (Yes, really). Both moments in the film are presented as being so absurd and over-the-top, that audiences can't help but laugh at the films desire to be strange with moments like those. One of the screenplays strongest elements that it introduces and quickly shies away from, is the backstory with Dolittle's character. The films opening sequence gives audiences the false impression that the story despite being family oriented with tons of humor, was going to take a more personal and dramatic approach with showing the origin story of Doctor Dolittle. What began as a promising and strong start for the reimagining of the character, that could've ended with an uplifting message regarding one finding their calling in life again, quickly evaporates into a generic adventure story revolving around a secluded and eccentric character, that's forced out of solitude to do a good deed for others when realizing what's ultimately at stake. The side characters come across as feeling forced and forgettable as they aren't developed fully enough for audiences to become invested in them. Despite the strong performances that both Michael Sheen and Antonio Banderas deliver with their roles, their characters aren't explored enough for the audience to  become invested in them, ultimely coming across as feeling like generic tropes. The biggest problem that lies with the script, is the films failure to explore the origins of Dolitte's character in-depth rather than giving audiences a vague explanation with the films brief yet strong opening.

    Overall, the film is not the disaster that it's been made out to be by both the critics and the media, but its also not a terrific effort either. It falls somewhere in the realm of being passable entertainment for young audiences, though not much else when directed towards adults. This movie works best in that regard with much of the humor being aimed towards them (Examples are farting animals, animals kicking each other in the balls, etc), along with the films overall intent to make them smile, laugh, and appreciate all living animals shown in the film in addition to finding an idol in Dolittle. Perhaps this is where the films greatest strength lies in regards to its entertainment value, as it it doesn't work very well when aimed at the rest of the general moviegoing audience. The voyage and adventure that Dolittle and his companions endure gives the film a Pirates Of The Caribbean type feel to it that only adds to the bizareness of its plot, while solidifying the argument that this film should've been directly aimed at kids all along rather than trying to appease to both groups. It can be argued that the films main character was ultimately robbed of his true origin story, but the end result isn't void of its entertainment value despite possessing it on such on a mild level. As a regular film aimed at the general audience, Dolittle falls short of expectations and ultimately serves as being an unusual misfire. However as a film that's aimed at young children, it manages to work very strongly as it can essentially be accepted for what it is. Depending though on the age of the person watching it, they may only watch it once and revert back to the previous films for more enjoyment. Dolittle works best as a mildly fun adventure film, that's aimed directly for young children as they won't care for many of the films issues that ultimately hold it back such as its blandness, the lack of true character development, a narrative that can leave much to be desired at times, uneven CGI in certain places, and jokes that either land or miss the mark. If looks at Dolittle from that perspective, it works as being an appealing misfire given that it essentially disappoints in every other aspect of filmmaking.

Final Verdict: For fans of the series or those looking for a fun family film for kids, Dolittle meets the criteria for both despite sizable flaws. Those looking for more than just a bland and generic children's film, should look elsewhere for more satisfying forms of entertainment.