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All Movie Info
Starring:
Alex Neuberger, Jason Lee, Amy Adams, James Belushi, Taylor Momsen, Patrick Warburton, Peter Dinklage, John Slattery, Ezra Buzzington, Armen Garo, Jerry Quinn, Diz White, Whitney Avalon, Jason Anthony, Domenic Fuggetta, Bruce-Robert Serafin, Kal Thompson, Michael Tyler Henry, Samantha Bee, Rebekah Aramini, Susie Castillo, Jillian Swanson, Rebekah Aramini, Stephanie Stokes
Directed By:
Frederik Du Chau
Written By:
Adam Rifkin, Joe Piscatella
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Underdog (2007)
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Movie Review by Jenny
August 10th, 2007
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Since first seeing the previews earlier this year, I have been excited about Underdog. As a parent of two children ages 7 and 5, it's hard to find movies that everyone in the family will enjoy. My kids were as equally excited to see it as I was. Usually it's them wanting to drag me to a movie (Happily N'ever After), or it's me wanting to drag them to a movie (Narnia).
The story line in Underdog was very simple: Mad scientist and his bumbling sidekick want to do bad things, and the superhero must save the day. The big "twist" on this is that the superhero is a dog. Not so big of a twist, right? Yeah, I know. But it's still a really cute gimmick and it worked for me. Underdog, whose alter-ego's name is Shoeshine, is a great character for kids. He has trouble succeeding in what he does because something always goes wrong, and he feels like he can't do anything. He's funny and very relatable, even if he is a talking dog. His owner, Jack, is having some problems of his own and has to overcome them to help Underdog succeed. It's nothing we haven't seen before, but coupled with the action and the comedy, it really works here. All of the kids in the theater were captivated.
The performances were fantastic as well. Dr. Barsinister is played by Peter Dinklage (you might know him from Nip/Tuck) and he's a perfect kiddie villain. He's just sinister enough, yet he does physical comedy very well. His bumbling sidekick is played masterfully by Patrick Warburton. Underdog's owner Jack is played by newcomer Alex Neuberger. According to imdb.com, he's only been in one other movie: Running Scared, which I hated. He's a great little actor. I expect to see him in many other movies in the future.
Underdog is the latest in the old-cartoon-turned-into-a-movie, and I have to tell you, I never watched the old cartoon. I remember seeing pieces of it here and there in my childhood, but it wasn't one that I would carve out a slice of that special Saturday morning time for. One of the things I do remember about the cartoon is Underdog speaking in rhyme a lot, and he does that in the new movie as well. Sounds like it would get old? Nah, it doesn't. Not in the short run-time. It's endearing actually, like a part of his new persona that isn't developed yet. I hate to compare, but it's kinda like in Spiderman, when Peter Parker is trying to figure out how to use his webbing and shouts out things like "Go web!".
My only complaint about the movie is that it dragged a bit in the second half. My kids were thoroughly engaged in it, but I took a quick 10 minute nap. Overall though, the movie was entertaining, funny, full of action, and completely appropriate for the entire family. Which I love.
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