How does the latest remake of Dr. Dolittle stack up?
The answer to that is “not so well”. This latest rendition of Dolittle is the least interesting version. Robert Downey Jr. gave a stellar performance. His acting was believable, entertaining and funny. The issue with this film, that keeps it from being as good as the others, is the story itself. The story revolved around saving the Queen of England. Dr. Dolittle and his team of animals gets tasked with finding an antidote to heal the poisoned Queen. Spoiler Alert: They find the antidote and save her.
There were no plot twists, no surprises and no unique story beats. The film just fell flat and never got exciting to watch. I tend to be easy going in my reviews, and I am not saying that Dolittle is a bad movie. It is just a boring and bland movie when compared to the previous renditions.
Reviewing Dolittle with an open mind.
Let’s pretend that this rendition is the only version of the story. Would that make it a better movie? I don’t think anything short of re-writing the entire story would make it better. The movie needed to bring something new to the table. Whether this film was a remake or re-imaging, it needed something special to set it apart from movies in general.
With all that said, I want to re-iterate that the movie is not a bad film. It is a good clean watch for family movie night. It has Robert Downey Jr. starring as the main character. It was fast paced and had some funny moments. I had really high hopes for Dolittle, especially when I heard that Robert Downey Jr. was playing the doctor himself. The movie just failed to deliver an interesting story.
I don’t recommend paying to watch this movie. Try to catch it on a streaming service that you already pay for, or watch it at a friends house.
Director: Stephen Gaghan
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Antonio Banderas, Micheal Sheen, Emma Thompson & More
Runtime: 1hr 41min
Rated: PG
HFR Rating:
