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Amazon.co.uk Review
Betty Thomas directs and Eddie Murphy stars in Doctor Dolittle, the 1998 hit film which, while ostensibly aimed at children, has a high quotient of hip and even mildly gross humour. Murphy stars as John Dolittle, whom we see as a child talking to a neighbourhood dog who explains that the reason mutts sniff each others' butts is to assess their characters when first meeting them. Little John promptly tries this out on being introduced to his school principal. Warned off such social eccentricity, Dolittle stops talking to animals and as an adult becomes a respectable doctor running his own medical practice--until a bump on the head revives his capacity to understand animals, whereupon mayhem, mortification and a menagerie of needy and freeloading creatures are heaped upon his ordered existence. Murphy plays it relatively straight. It's the animals, some of them vividly enhanced by Jim Henson's animating team, who provide the real laughs here, and a thoroughly worldly, wisecracking bunch of characters they prove to be. There's a couple of hard-boiled, squabbling rats, a pigeon who complains of impotence, Rocky the guinea pig (voiced by Chris Rock) with a neat line in hip backchat, while Albert Brooks voices the gruff, melancholy tiger whose life Dolittle must try to save. A sweet but by no means saccharine comedy. --David Stubbs
Dr Dolittle 2
It's only a marginal improvement, but Dr Dolittle 2 defies the odds by rising above its popular 1998 predecessor (and once again, let's not confuse these movies with the earlier Rex Harrison musical). Eddie Murphy plays the title role with ease and with the confident professionalism of a comedian who knows when to share the spotlight--especially when he's being upstaged by a bunch of animals who steal all the punch lines. And once again the film is aimed at a pre-teen audience: so many of those punch lines involve flatulence, bodily functions and frequent use of the word "butt". The difference this time is that Dr Dolittle has settled into his talk-to-the-animals routine; his 16-year-old daughter (Raven-Symone) is getting to be a feisty handful (it turns out she's coping with a hereditary gift); and his lawyer wife (Kristen Wilson) is representing him in a trial against corporate villains who want to clear-cut a local forest. Naturally, the local critter mafia (their Don is a beaver... fuggeddaboudit!) want Dolittle to fight for their cause, and this involves the successful mating of an endangered bear and a domesticated circus bear who's forgotten all the bear necessities of life in the wild. The bears are voiced by Lisa Kudrow and Steve Zahn and they almost steal the show, but the whole menagerie (with digitally animated "talking") is equally amusing. Adults might wish that the filmmakers had tried harder to make a truly memorable sequel, but this is a movie for kids, and they're going to love it without quibbling. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com
Video Description
Dr Dolittle-- Interactive menus Theatrical trailer
1.85:1 aspect ratio widescreen 16:9
English Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles: Czech, Danish, Finnish, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Swedish, English for the hearing impaired.
Dr Dolittle 2--Director's audio commentary
2 deleted scenes
4 featurettes
2 trailers
12 TV spots
5 storyboard-to-film comparisons
Music video
2.35:1 aspect ratio widescreen 16:9
English Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles: Czech, Danish, Finnish, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Swedish, English for the hearing impaired.
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Customer Reviews
Starting where the Dr Dolittle 1 left off (but you don't need to have seen the first film to enjoy this one) the story is that of a jaded show bear forced out of his comfy showbiz life to save the future of an endangered variation of his own species - he's the only one left, and the other's a female: cue, one sparkling, silly tableau after another as the bear swaps limos and 5-star treatment for chest-beating and mud. Parallel to this is a bubbling tale of adolescent strife in the Dolittle household, a move to the country, stitched together with the thread of a crackling script, hair-curling jokes and the inevitable animal-human common denominator of the digestive system - or more specifically, its waste disposal system!
With digital tools and animatronics currently at breathtaking levels of technical skill, I had hardly expected the animals in this film to be anything less than impressive. However, I hadn't counted on such an expert and seamless blending of real creatures, sensitive voice-overs and pixels. Oh, and the humans weren't bad too - Eddie Murphy proving why there was so much fuss about him to begin with, supported by a family delivering just the right amount of 'ham'.
So suspend your disbelief for an hour or two, forget what your last birthday told you - hey, you're five again, right? - and laugh like a drain at this clever, careful, joyous, ridiculous story told with a tongue planted firmly in cheek.
Who knows - I might even get Beatrix Potter off that dusty shelf ...
It makes a change to see him in a different role this time playing the character of a slightly older man, a mature family man.
Great entertainment, lots of laughs, very enjoyable.
film ever!!
It makes you laugh
and cry!!
It brings up Eddie Murphy
and animal speakers!! Read more
great and Eddie Murphy it's very funny.
three years ago the hit "Doctor Dolittle" wasn't a great movie, but it was... Read more
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