Tuesday, January 08, 2008

  • Underdog

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    Underdog
    By Amy Adams, Jason Lee, Peter Dinklage, James Belushi
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    When I had mentioned to Rowena, at work, that I'd rented Underdog, she was perplexed, having never heard of it.  I explained about the old Cartoon series but she was drawing blanks.

    She grew up in the Philippians, and unless it was a big show - like I Love Lucy - they didn't get it. So she's never seen Underdog, Mr. Ed, My Favorite Martian or Speedracer, among other programs.

    This movie would be a wonderful introduction for her.  While Shoeshine (voiced by Jason Lee) does not talk in rhymes all the time, the show does give the same sort of feel as the original cartoon series.

    While it's mildly predicable, it's still a fun little flick and there are all kinds of little tribute bits in it - such as a recreation of the the Italian Dinner scene from Disney's Lady and the Tramp.

    Peter Dinklage plays Dr. Simon Barsinister, a genetic scientist who's trying to bio-engineer a better, faster, stronger version of man's best friend.  When Shoeshine, a police dog, sniffs out an exploding ham, Shoeshine turns in his badge and is wandering the streets when he is picked up by Cad (Patrick Warburton) and whisked away to Barsinister's lab to be used in experiments.

    Shoeshine manages to dodge the needle, but after he crashes into a shelf with Barsinister's experiments on it, he suddenly develops superhuman - or is that supercanine? - powers.  He escapes from the lab, which also goes up in flame.

    While he is running from the local neighborhood bullies, Shoeshine runs into Dan Unger (James Belushi) who takes him home to his son Jack (Alex Neuberger).  After they discover Shoeshine's powers, Jack talks him into becoming a superhero - Underdog.

    A bit on the bumbling side, Underdog first saves Jack's love interest Molly (Taylor Momsen) and her dog Polly Purebred (voiced by Amy Adams) from a being mugged.  But can Underdog save the rest of the city?

    Along with the Lady and the Tramp bit, there are spoof scenes from Superman, Superman II, Spider-Man 2 and Superman Returns in the film.  Some amusing dialog adds to the charm of the film...

    "There's no need to worry, Underdog is furry!"

    There are a number of references to the old cartoon series, but even if you've never seen it, you'll probably still get a kick out of the film.  Kids, of course, will really enjoy it too.

    While real animal actors where used in this film, GCI animation was used to animate the animal mouths and add expressions to their faces.  There are some places where the special effects are see through - including the obvious use of a puppet Shoeshine toward the end the film, but it's still enjoyable.

    I would give it a 3 (out of 5) star rating, just because it's fun.  The featurettes are also presented in an unique way on the DVD and worth the watch.  Both the full screen and the wide screen versions come on one disk, plus featurettes. Worth the rental, at least, for an evening's entertainment.

    I can see PETA having a serious problems with the film though because aside from the use of clicker trained dogs, the film represents animal experimentation and in one scene, the use of a fox stole.  Still, the film is not anti-animal, PETA is just a terrorist organization with nothing better to do then attack kid's films.  I'm sure they would consider the use of the "rig" to get the flying dog shots cruel and unusual punishment, even though the dogs didn't seem to mind it.

    Rated PG / 84 minutes / 2007

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