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Dr. Dolittle – Million Dollar Mutts is directed by
Alex Zamm. The film stars Kyla Pratt as Maya Dolittle, Tegan
Moss as Tiffany Monaco, Karen Holness as Lisa Dolittle,
Brandon Jay Mclaren - Brandon Turner, Jason Bryden as Rick
Beverley, Doron Bell as Ridiculz, Curtis Caravaggio as Chase,
Sarah Deakins as the Vet, Greg Ellis as Dave the Dove, Matthew
Harrison as Paul Furhooven, and Elizabeth Thai as Reporter.
***
Million Dollar Mutts is the latest in a long line of
direct-to-video sequels to 1998’s Dr. Dolittle adaptation
that starred Eddie Murphy. The doctor’s daughter abandons
her idea of being a vet and heads for Hollywood, where she
opts to use her talent for talking to animals to gain fame.
She ends up on a talk show with a famous heiress, but isn’t
long before she begins disagreeing with her co-host about
the way she treats animals, and begins questioning this
new life path. ***
This is a kids movie, nothing more. While I will admit
that this film is far better than the Dr. Dolittle direct-to-video
sequels we have seen in the past, it’s really only children
who are going to get a kick out of it. The plot is predictable,
the characters stale and one-dimensional, the humor juvenile,
and let’s be realistic – how many sequels did we need to
a movie that wasn’t that great to begin with? ***
The biggest problem with the direct-to-video sequels
in this franchise is that the y all lack Eddie Murphy, who
more-or-less made the first theatrical movie his own. He’s
one of the truly great comedy actors out there, and doing
sequels without him has been a tragic misstep. There isn’t
anyone in the rest of the cast that can fill Murphy’s shoes,
and these sequels take a hit for it. ***
Still, despite its shortcomings, there’s at least enough
entertainment value and substance here that it will make
a good kids movie. If you’ve got children, this movie is
at least going to make sense as a weekend rental. ---
Image and Sound:
I wasn’t expecting a direct-to-video film to look as
good as this one does. The cinematography features some
memorable locales, and they all look great in this 1080p
Blu-Ray transfer. It’s a shame not every direct-to-video
movie can look as good as this one; this transfer is well
above average for a movie of this sort. Audio is lossless,
but front-heavy, as would be expected from a movie such
as this. All in all, though, this is an above-average transfer.
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