Never fear, Underdog is here. Karma throws Jason Lee for a loop and he has to say my name is Underdog. He does come off a bit better than Peter Dinklage who is a much better actor than the material that is presented here.
A bomb sniffing dog botches a press conference for the Mayor (John Slattery) when he mistakes a ham for a bomb and is kicked off the force. He’s wandering the streets when he’s captured and taken to the laboratory of Dr. Simon Barsinister (Peter Dinklage) to be experimented upon.
Dr. Barsinister and his assistant Cad (Patrick Warburton) are trying to genetically engineer the perfect police enforcement dog for the city. He genetically alters the bomb dog and he develops superpowers as well as the ability to talk. He escapes Dr. Barsinister but Barsinister is burnt in the effort.
Outside he’s hit with security guard Dan Unger’s (James Belushi) car and he decides to take the beagle home (not noticing the giant dent in his bumper) and christens him Shoeshine (voiced by Jason Lee). Dan’s son Jack (Alex Neuberger) discovers that his new dog can talk and has superpowers.
He makes a costume for his canine and Underdog is born. The evil Simon Barsinister is still out to avenge himself both against Underdog and city hall, so it’s Underdog to the rescue.
Peter Dinklage is a helluva actor and you hope that he got paid well for his film since it’s not exactly up to the standards that I’d expect from this fine actor. It’s pretty dire and comes across as a flat tire (to assume the rhyming style of our canine hero).
Jason Lee’s voice does sound good coming out of Underdog, but he narrates far too much of the film (usually that’s a sure sign of trouble when there’s lots of narration). It just doesn’t come across as being worthwhile of a big screen adaptation.
When you watch the first episode of the cartoon series (blissfully included here) you remember that the show was more of a parody and none of that sly sense of humor is present in this live action film. There are a few gags that the kids will enjoy and probably will like a talking dog ala Superman however adults might find themselves looking at their watches.
Underdog is presented in both fullscreen and anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) enhanced for 16x9 televisions. You’re asked to choose your version when you hit the play button. Special features include deleted scenes with optional introductions by director Frederik Du Chau.
They total about 4 minutes with these introductions but don’t really add up to much. Next is 90 seconds of bloopers that have the animals misbehaving and human actors flubbing their lines (including Jason Lee and Amy Adams (“Polly Purebred”) flubbing in the recording booth). The 5-minute “Sit, Stay, Act” has Shoeshine talking to us as if he were a real actor.
This short also has a “dig deeper” icon that will take you to short informational clips. The 2-minute “Underdog Raps” music video by Kyle Massey is next. Finally there’s the 5-minute “Safe Waif” which is the first Underdog cartoon and much more entertaining than the feature in my opinion.
Underdog is really an underdog of a movie, but it just chases its tail and really doesn’t get anywhere. Hopefully the decent actors, Lee and Dinklage, who decided to star in this neutered picture laughed all the way to the bank but I hope they’re choosier with future projects. That being said, the kids may like it (just grab a good book to keep yourself occupied).
Underdog is now available at Amazon . As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.
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