Tweet

EMAIL

PRINT

Comments (0)

 1 of 2

Underdog Our rating: Your rating: 1 2 3 4 Your Comments: see all MPAA rating: PG (for rude humor, mild language and action) Genre: Children, Family Theater release: August 03, 2007 by Disney Directed by: Frederick Du Chau Runtime: 1 hour 24 minutes Cast: Jason Lee (voice Underdog/Shoeshine), Alex Neuberger (Jack Unger), Peter Dinklage (Simon Barsinister), Patrick Warburton (Cad), James Belushi (Dan Unger) Related: Talk About It/Family Corner

There's irony about Hollywood remakes of old classic kids' shows, movies or books. As they try to leverage the nostalgia of adults raised on the classic, they also try to pull in kids of today. But what works for those fans of yesteryear often won't satisfy today's kids. And what satisfies the new generation won't always give adults that same feeling they remember. Can a movie remake ever truly satisfy the old fans while pulling in new ones?

After seeing the commercials for Underdog, I was quite certain that the live action re-make of my beloved childhood memories was going to be a total, embarrassing and gut-wrenching train wreck. It seemed as if they destroyed the old show and watered it down to be My Flying Pet Dog.

When I attended an afternoon show dominated by 7-year-olds at a birthday party, I was able to compare how they responded to what I, a nostalgia-craving 30-year-old, thought.

Alex Neuberger as Jack with the wonder pooch

It wasn't the train wreck I expected. The kids sat still for 84-minutes, their eyes glued to the action. And I discovered that for being a formulaic kids' flick, I wasn't annoyed. It wasn't just My Flying Pet Dog, but did have many fun tips-of-the-hat to the old show: Underdog's penchant for rhyming; Simon Barsinister's trademark line, "Simon says"; his bleach blonde thug, Cad; and the goofy white-domed mayor.

However, neither the kids nor I laughed out loud very often. We found little to get too excited about. There was nothing here we haven't seen in other kids' flicks. There are surely far better kids' movies about dogs, and far better kids' adventures with superpowers. And for "old" fans, the movie is a related but different Underdog.

The newly conceived origin story for Underdog is pretty much the story of Spider-Man, but with less webs and more fur—and, well, more poop jokes too. It goes like this: a young, unassuming geek is involved in a bizarre science experiment gone wrong that gradually begins to give him powers he doesn't understand. Soon, he has to decide to use these new powers to help the helpless.

Underdog and Polly Purebred

In this canine version, Underdog (voiced by Jason Lee) starts as a bumbling police dog who just can't do the job right. This beagle's nose doesn't have what it takes to sniff out crime. He's bullied by the cooler, tougher dogs. But then, he's kidnapped by the sinister scientist Simon Barsinister (Peter Dinklage) for his DNA experiments. Things go awry. The pup gets away from Simon and his henchman Cad (Patrick Warburton). In the process of escaping, the dog is splashed by several strange DNA potions lying around in uncovered beakers. Apparently, that's enough to instantly make him super-strong and super-fast.

Soon, the homeless puppy is found by an ex-cop, Dan Unger (James Belushi), who takes him home for his son, Jack (Alex Neuberger), and names him "Shoeshine" for his knack for licking shoes. As Shoeshine grows to love having a home and a family, he discovers new gifts: he can talk and fly. At Jack's encouragement, Shoeshine begins helping the people of the city under a new name: Underdog.

Patrick Warburton as Cad Peter Dinklage as Simon Barsinister

In the old cartoon, humans and dogs and wolves (remember the gangster bad guy, Riff Raff?) all walked and talked and lived together. Shoeshine was a shoeshine boy and Polly Purebread was a popular news reporter. Now, Shoeshine and Polly are dogs on leashes with owners and water bowls. This makes Underdog into yet another dog movie about a pet with amazing abilities who loves his human owner (Air Bud, etc). And as such, it's just average family entertainment with the normal messages: friendship, unconditional love, family, and believing in yourself.

There are some nice moments. Jack teaches Shoeshine what it means to be an underdog who rises above the odds and your own self-doubt. Underdog deters Simon's attack dogs by helping them realize their owner doesn't love them ("Has he ever scratched your belly?"). And the movie ends with the affirmation that, "Everyday men and women—and even dogs—rise up to be heroes. These are the heroes we all have inside us."

next page... |  1 of 2 | last page