Dr. Dolittle 2

"Dr. Dolittle 2" is pretty much what you would expect out of a family comedy, only a tad more crude. We could've done with maybe one less gag about animal urination. The plot is a pious, predictable one involving the preservation of an endangered species of bears. You know, one of those storylines that's supposed to deliver a "message" to all the young ones out there.

Like usual, we have the talking animals voiced by a variety of celebrities. Steve Zahn lends his voice to one of the lead animal characters. He's actually quite funny at times, as a bear/circus performer who's overcome by stardom, and now that he found out he's part of an endangered species he has to learn how to live like a normal bear: start hibernating, eating fish, etc. Lisa Kudrow is the voice of his love interest. Michael Rapaport is funny as a racoon who's the henchman of an alleged animal Mafia.

Since the Dolittle's daughter (Raven-Symone) is all grown-up, we have to expect the obvious romantic subplot in which she hits puberty and engages in an active dating life. Her father, naturally, has doubts about her new supposedly rebellious boyfriend (Lil' Zane). So we're dragged through that unnecessary subplot, which pretty much serves as filler to complete a running time of 100 minutes.

Lately, Eddie Murphy has been tackling PG projects like this and "Shrek." A few years back, he took a try at cleaning his act when doing a voice-over for Disney's "Mulan." Then again, in the flop "Holy Man." I have to admire him for showing his more sanitized approach to comedy. Despite his inability to use the "f" word, he proves he's still a multi-talented comedian and not a talented comedian whose act is totally watered-down and dull because of being forced to clean up his mouth. Though he pretty much plays the straight man (I also have to admire him for his discipline, in remaining subdued and in character rather than viewing the movie as no more than a showcase for his comedy), he still belts out some witty one-liners and proves to be just as funny as his animal companions.

I don't really have any strong opinions about this movie. It's harmless, but it could've used a major rewrite. It's funny at times, but could've been a lot funnier (and less crude). Don't worry, you won't be seeing any gags involving birds crapping into people's mouths or a thermometer getting stuck into a dog's behind. The film has just enough crudeness to achieve the PG rating, but we still could've done without it. Your kids will be rolling in the aisles, while the adults may want to take a few popcorn and bathroom breaks. Not bad (especially for a sequel), but forgettable and even somewhat dull. You're better off catching this one on video.

My score: 6 (out of 10)

Dr. Dolittle 2 is a film that attempts to poke fun at some of today's pop culture. Jokes involving "Super Size," "Wassssssup," and "The Backstreet Boys," all appear within this sequel. However, this type of film has to be backed up with something more than witty animal comments, and opinions on pop culture. The animals give their part, but unfortunately the humans don't. The characters in this story, including Dr. Dolittle, are uninteresting. No one wants to see the formulaic family that has problems, and everyone knows that by the end of the film they'll all still love each other. That formula promotes boredom. Despite the foolish characters, this comedy isn't a total flop. Children will probably laugh at the crude jokes, while parents fall asleep. The animals give their 50%, but the humans are the ones who are lacking. I think its about time for Eddie Murphy to move on, and for Hollywood to drop the "Dolittle" franchise. **--C+

Dr. John Dolittle (Eddie Murphy) is more successful than ever honing in on his new animal communication skills. With his dog Lucky (Norm Macdonald) at his side, he is able to help multitudes of animals. His daughter Charisse Dolittle (Raven-Symoné) is annoyed with him. It's her sweet sixteen and two rats pop out of her cake. To appease her, he promises to take the family on an European vacation away from the animals. He drives to the woods to meet the Godfather beaver. The animals are concerned about encroaching humans and the clear cutting of the forest. He needs an endangered animal to save the forest. Eugene Wilson tells him about unique female bear Ava (Lisa Kudrow) but they need to reintroduce male circus bear Archie (Steve Zahn) into the wild. Oppositing them are lumber company owner Joe Potter (Jeffrey Jones) and his lawyer Riley (Kevin Pollak).

It has some functional kids' movie aspects. The talking animals are funny sometimes although Steve Zahn may not be the best wacky voice actor. There is a lot of low brow humor. It could be good but the situation is too manufactured and the cabin setting is too fake. It has some good laughs but the story gets too tiresome. Kids might like this but even they should be bored by courtroom drama and corporate powerplay.

Continuing my plan to watch every Eddie Murphy movie in order, I come to Doctor Doolittle 2 (1998)

Plot In A Paragraph: Doctor Doolittle (Murphy) tries to save a forest.

Like Nutty Professor 2, this is the worst kind of sequel!! It exists just because the first movie made money. Again I watched this with my girlfriends daughter, I don't think many people over the age of 10, will find much to enjoy here, as it is pretty much laugh free, devoid of any original ideas, the animal "lip synching" is awful and like with the Nutty Professor 2, the humour is ruder and cruder!! And sadly Murphy is now the angry out of touch Dad, yelling at his teenage daughter to open her bedroom door. There are no attempts to make any jokes to even amuse, let alone entertain the adults watching this. Shrek was far mor intelligent than this. Murphy is the best thing in this, he is not at his best, but he has a relaxed charm. Sadly it's not enough to save the movie. I spent most of my time playing 'Guess the celebrity voice'

Like with The Nutty Professor sequel, this performed slightly worse than the original, but it was still a decent hit, as Dr Doolittle grossed $112 Million at the domestic box office to end the year the 16th highest grossing movie of 2001. Due to the financial success of both movies, I'm actually surprised there has not been third movies in both cases

Dr. Dolitle has Murphy back as the doctor who can talk to animals once again comes back, this time he has to help a bear become a, uh, man of a bear in order to save a forest. While the first one had as many fart and poop jokes as this one, it didn't have it's vivacity and it's effect to be funny to both kids and adults. This time, it's strictly for kids and it is below par for Murphy; if you want to see him in an exceptional comedy see Shrek again. Various stars give voices which keep this movie afloat including Steve Zahn, Lisa Kudrow, Isaac Hayes, Kevin Pollack, Cedric the Entertainer, Andy Dick and above all, Norm MacDonald. C+