Underdog

This movie passed through theaters without much fanfare this Summer. I was actually not going to spend the time to review it, if not for two reasons. The first is that it is now out on DVD, and I'm sure plenty of youngens will be yearning for a copy. The second is that this is the first of three movies I'm sitting down to review that feature Amy Adams. Just to give a heads up, they're also going from worst to best.

The movie is based on the classic cartoon character with one twist. He's a real dog this time. Underdog (voiced by Jason Lee) was caught in a lab accident giving him super powers (evidently including the ability to talk). He comes to find an owner in Jack Unger (Alex Neuberg). The two of them team up to stop Dr. Barsinister (Peter Dinklage), the man responsible for Underdog's powers. All the while Alex is trying to hook up with Molly (Taylor Momsen) and Polly (Amy Adams), Molly's dog.

I really think this could have been okay had it been a fully animated movie. Instead, it was live action with some mediocre visual effects. There were some entertaining throwbacks to the original series. Underdog's name is Shoeshine (a reference to his occupation in the series), speaking in rhyme, and his love interest-Polly. Unfortunately Frederik Du Chau's attempt at an update just succeeded at taking all the fun out of it.

Patrick Warburton is again the best part of the movie. Even in the worst movies, he is downright hilarious. This time, he stars as an inept sidekick to Barsinister. His presence makes this movie almost bearable. That is until you remember the rest of the movie. The main problem with Underdog is that it took a beloved cartoon character, and made it a dull visual effects piece without any of the charm of the original.

1/5