The Underdog

I'm a grown man but a sucker for animated talking animal stories. The target audience for these types of movies is children of course, but I decided to watch anyway, hoping it could at least keep my attention. Several times during the movie I said to myself "oh that's not for kids" which, while not going too far, were really just things the North American audience isn't used to seeing in an animated film. The story felt more "real" than the movies we usually see. And for that, I was thankful. It did hold my attention. It did not insult me as an adult viewer. It was cute, and funny, and serious, and the animation was excellent. What it did do was entertain me, like a movie should. Very happy I chose to watch this one!

First, both depiction and dialogue disparaging human treatment of dogs (or animals in general) made it seem as if cruelty was a common & major part of human behavior. Yes, at the end we seen a spot of kindness, but it seemed just as artificial as the nastiness depictions. Second, the animals themselves talked & behaved in very unnatural ways that ranged from mean spirited to Mama Teresa sacrificial kindness. Third, made in South Korea the scenes where the dogs escape across the DMZ seemed too political & pointless. Fourth, the animation quality of flat mono colored both foreground moving characters & all of the unmoving background scenes gave no life or realness to anything. English dialogue seemed very un-dog like, and more actor like.

I must admit that I am a big fan of animated movies, especially stylistic ones that don't just render a hyper-realistic dog, as I find them dull, uninspired, and uninteresting. I admit that one of my friends vaguely mentioned the movie is sad was prior to me watching it and was thus worried for the dogs throughout the movie. Early on, I felt things were going too fast. Though by the time they established the initial main cast, I had become more immersed. The pacing can be odd in some places, but it's quite minor as the movie succeeds in the most important part of a movie: entertainment. There were moments that broke my heart, but overall, the ending felt earned and was more than satisfying. Without the ending credit scenes, maybe it wouldn't have been as satisfying, so I'm thankful they provided them. Actual story aside, I must say I really loved the art style of the movie, as it was quite refreshing and unique. There were some really fun action moments as well that felt very playful and enjoyable to watch. Overall, I very much enjoyed this movie and would recommend viewing it with your kids or family (provided they are teens or older, as some scenes might be too much for younger kids).