Underdog (2007) Jason Lee, Peter Dinklage, James Belushi, Patrick Warburton Movie Review

Underdog (2007)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Underdog (2007)

The Canine Caped Crusader

After causing a scene as the mayor (John Slattery) was giving a speech, a bomb sniffing beagle is fired, dog napped and injected with some strange serum by a mad scientist (Peter Dinklage) and his assistant (Patrick Warburton). It leads to the beagle gaining super powers but also being adopted by Dan (James Belushi), a widowed former cop turned security guard, who takes him and names him Shoeshine. Dan has a son called Jack (Alex Neuberger) who discovers Shoeshine's special powers which they keep secret whilst Shoeshine uses them to save those in distress and danger, as well as helping Jack with the girl he likes. But the mad scientist and his assistant are desperate to get the Beagle back.

I wish at times I could think like I did when I was a child, it would make my life so much easier to review movies which are clearly made for children especially those which feature talking animals, not something I am a huge fan of. But I reckon young children would probably enjoy "Underdog" with the comedy of not only a talking dog but one which has super powers. There is plenty of simple comedy which works at a very low level which might not be that great for grown ups but as I said works at a more youthful level.

But whilst there is the simplistic comedy for children there is the casting for grown ups and between Jason Lee's brilliant voicing of Shoeshine to Patrick Warburton with bleached blonde hair and Peter Dinklage as a mad scientist it is a lot of fun. Maybe the casting works for children as well but as a grown up it is what kept me more entertained than anything.

The thing about "Underdog" is I am sure many people watched "Underdog" the animated series from the 60s when they were growing up but this didn't live up to their memories. Maybe it doesn't but for those who come across this without having watched the old series it is a fun little family movie.

What this all boils down to is that "Underdog" is actually better than I expected it to be with plenty to entertain young audiences but also plenty to entertain adults who find themselves watching this thanks to the casting.


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