Dr. Dolittle: Tail to the Chief

While this isn't Oscar-worthy, and it will never be nominated for Video of the Year, Kyla Pratt doesn't fail to entertain, in spite of a lax plot so full of holes, it's nearly nonexistent. The dialog is the worst kind of cheese, and the whole execution is completely idiotic. However, the premise is rather cute and amusing, and Kyla Pratt is cute and amusing DOING it. Although suspension of belief is nearly impossible when faced with the horrible dialog and implausible plot elements, contrived story devices, and horrible production quality...and in the face of all that, somehow I don't hate it. That's mainly because of the "cuteness" factor and Kyla Pratt's growing abilities as an actress in spite of the horrible parts she has been shoe-horned into. I liked it...oddly enough.

It rates a 4.2/10 on the Str82Video Scale.

It rates a 3.6/10 on the Movie Scale from...

the Fiend :.

This movie was bad enough for me to want to come onto IMDb and submit my debut review, so here it is: When faced with a family comedy, you'd hope that at least one member of the family audience would laugh a few times. At least. Unfortunately, only two or three times during this movie was there an attempt at humour just funny enough to ALMOST make me smile, or indeed to make the five and seven year olds I watched this movie with almost lift out of the stupor they were thrown into by the horrifying monotony that was Dr. Dolittle: Tail to the Chief. At these moments of near-humour, I would hope that perhaps the movie was improving, but then my foolish optimism would fizzle out again as the movie sank back into its dreary dialogue and dull acting. Of course, the acting isn't something that would be such a big importance in this kind of movie, but here it is so terrible that it is one of the straws that broke the camel's back. I believe this was the fourth film in a series. That fact alone speaks volumes. It was boring in almost every respect and not worth anybody's money or time.

OK, my disclaimer here is that I've seen all the DoLittle movies now, because they're safe and my son loves animal movies and I figure there could be worse things to watch (like Garfield the movie, oh lord don't get me started...) And I actually didn't mind DoLittle 1. DoLittle 2 wasn't so great but at least it had Eddie Murphy in it, and the man knows funny. OK wasn't his funniest movie by a long shot, but at least he's animated. By DoLittle 3 I was pretty tired of the franchise and I think it definitely lost a big something with Murphy's departure. Everyone says how 'cute' Kyra/ Maya (?is that her name) is but I just find her yawn yawn yawn. Well, it still wasn't the worst thing to have to watch. Guess what was? Yep, DoLittle 4. Finally hit the almost bottom of the barrel (ok that's reserved for Garfield the movie - and before you tell me Garfield 2 the movie is worse, I DON'T want to know - have hidden the DVD in the cupboard and am hoping the 6 yr old doesn't remember we haven't seen it yet and start asking questions)

So I suppose I should review this movie huh, after all that preamble? Well my 6 yr old laughed at the monkey, and he was right - the monkey had the best scenes in the movie (and even he was under par this time). And I guess Mr. 6 laughed at a few other of the animal scenes too, so at least one of us was happy. But I found the animals in this movie painful (especially the wallaby, and Lucky the dog was particularly subpar this time). Anyway let's face it, Mr. 6 is at that age of no discerning taste in movies whatsoever.

So Maya has come to the end of high school and wants to go to college to a vet school that has her Dad's name and endowment, but has been getting crappy grades and the review panel is unimpressed - they put her on a waiting list. Already by this point I'm annoyed by the sheer laziness of the writer/ director -no explanation for why she no longer has a sister, or why the very promising boyfriend she had at the end of the last movie is no longer on the scene, or why her Dad no longer lives with them (ok he's 'off in Antarctica' this time but there was no explanation for why he was no longer around in the previous film in which Mommy was flirting with Maya's boyfriend's Dad, so clearly they are actually no longer together - why not just say so??), or why the college doesn't just accept her because ?hello?! SHE CAN TALK TO ANIMALS - who needs good grades when you have that advantage over, um, every single other person in the world (except for Daddy). And who needs good grades when your Dad OWNS the school?!? Whatever, movies can be implausible right? Suspension of belief right? OK sure, if there is a theme/ point to it. But this movie requires you to constantly ignore gaping plot holes and inconsistencies for no reason other than the writers' laziness. Everything about this movie just felt so incredibly cheap and lazy.

Moving on...

Maya needs to show the school she's got the goods, and luckily enough who happens to swing by needing some help but the President's staff, hoping Daddy can cure the First Dog who has gone rogue. As Daddy is AWOL, Maya fits the bill for the job, and is whisked away to the white house without so much as a security check to meet the President and go camping with him and his daughter for the week to work on the dog. Maya isn't at all phased about meeting the President, it's like she's greeting her taxi driver.

Now, I want to know, what's up with every adult character in this franchise after DoLittle 2 being a single parent? Ms DoLittle, the Dad in the last movie, and now the President (no explanation ever given). Not that I have any problem with it, I just find it weird... Anyway so they all go to the ranch, which is actually an animal conservation ranch as the President is a knowledgeable conservationist (convenient plot device!). There's some ridiculous story about saving a forest and a bunch of animals, which is not only ill-explained but also a bit of a lazy rehash of the DoLittle 2 plot. The First Dog story is also pathetic, lazy and dealt with in clichés. The 'romance' isn't a romance at all and similarly dealt with in a pathetic way - despite the cute boy seeming to have no romantic interest in Maya, his girlfriend is absurdly rude to Maya right off the bat for no reason whatsoever other than a silly attempt to provide an atmosphere of drama.... As if in the professional environment of the Presidency a staffer could get away with being outright hostile to the President's latest favourite go-to girl? And then all of a sudden she realises her mistake and that Maya is actually cool and they are all friends. No explanation for this sudden and clunky change of heart.

Oh god why am I writing this essay?? I was clearly damaged by the experience of having to sit through this movie. I won't continue.

2 words: excruciating and lazy

(But I guess at least it's 'safe' viewing for kids if that's what you're looking for - no swearing or inappropriate sexual references at all. And at least it's not Garfield!).

8 October 2016. There is nothing particularly great but at the same nothing particularly bad in this animal talking live action movie. The lead character seems to be a little on the dense side at times. The pacing of the movie seems to slow down too much in places. What's interesting is the performances and acting of the Presidential detail outside the immediate advisors that add to the authenticity of the movie which is usually loosely handled in other movies. One of the lead character's pets actions seems rather oddly portrayed in the movie. Overall this movie had a comprehendible storyline, an environmental focus, and decent if not superlative acting. There's even a Presidential lesson to be learned by young people who watch.

I sat down to watch the 2008 movie "Dr. Dolittle: Tail to the Chief" immediately after having just watched the 2006 movie "Dr. Dolittle 3". However, I have to say that this movie from writers Matt Liebermann and Kathleen Laccinole just wasn't really as good as the predecessor.

Sure, "Dr. Dolittle: Tail to the Chief" was watchable for what it turned out to be, but director Craig Shapiro just didn't really manage to turn the script into something as wholesome as the previous movie. Don't get me wrong here, because "Dr. Dolittle: Tail to the Chief" was still a watchable movie, but it just lacked that particular something to make it outstanding.

The problem for me here, was the script, as I found it to be somewhat restrictive. The writers didn't really take the storyline and the potential and let it go to its full potential. So the narrative in "Dr. Dolittle: Tail to the Chief" felt somewhat on a leash, pardon the pun.

It was good, though, to have cast members from the previous movie return to this fourth movie in the franchise and reprise their roles and voices for the animals. That definitely added something to the movie. The acting performances in the movie were good.

My rating of "Dr. Dolittle: Tail to the Chief" lands on a four out of ten stars.