Review: Underdog

The '60s saw the arrival of some really great cartoons; colorful stuff that was silly enough for the kiddies yet sly enough for the grown-ups who happened to be in the room. Over the last several years those classic cartoons have been turned into movies like Dudley Do-Right, George of the Jungle and (the amazingly bad) Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle. (Or if you prefer lame movies from lame cartoons: Josie and the Pussycats is out there, as are both of the brain-softening Scooby-Doo movies.) Each of these remakes tried to capitalize on the nostalgia value of the brand name while also aiming directly for the new batch of young moviegoers who know nothing of these characters. Each of these movies failed in many regards -- although none of 'em are as obnoxious as that Bullwinkle travesty.

Based on the well-remembered animated series that ran from 1964 to 1973, the new-fangled version of Underdog bares little to no resemblance to its predecessor. Aside from a few proper nouns and some throwaway gags (and the overplayed theme song), this is more of a low-rent mixture of Babe and Superman ... although not nearly as well-produced as those flicks. Director Frederik Du Chau (who, after the execrable Racing Stripes, looks to be Hollywood's go-to guy for low-end talking animal movies) focuses all his energies on the digital lips of his canine co-stars, neglecting to notice that his movie has a boring story, dreary characters and (even at 80-some minutes) next to nothing in the area of forward momentum.

Too listless and fluffy to earn all that much fury, Underdog just kinda lays there trying to be cute -- just like its adorable little beagle of star. The plot -- typical kid-fare nonsense about the arrival of a canine superhero (voiced with disappointing blandness by Jason Lee), his friendship with a vanilla-flavored teenager, and his battle with a few goofy villains -- is little more than you'd hope to expect, but at least a few of the flesh and blood cast members manage to exhibit half a pulse. As the odd couple troublemakers, Peter Dinklage and Patrick Warburton deliver a few stray chuckles, but find themselves consistently upstaged by the cute talking doggy. Awww!

Chock full of leaden puns, telegraphed gags and paper-thin characterizations, the screenplay is a real mess. (And whoever edited the flick together piecemeal just might be legally blind.) Fortunately the director opts to focus on a few semi-interesting action bits, and these set pieces act as small tentpoles for a rapidly deflating tent. The special effects range from passably slick to woefully undercooked -- but really, what's it matter? From its very inception this semi-adaptation was destined for one thing: To be devoured by your movie-lovin' kids and then forgotten about until the DVD arrives. At that point they'll either ask to own a copy or (more likely) they won't. And even if you do buy the thing, there's no way it'll ever get more than one or two spins in your living room. There's just too much quality family fare out there to waste extra time on something this airy, generic and instantly forgettable.

And if you happen to be a serious fan of the old-time cartoon Underdog, take one piece of advice: Never see this movie. Pretend Disney released something called Hero Pup and just ignore it forever. Underdog might not be the migraine-inducing face-slap that the Bullwinkle flick so effortlessly proved to be, but there's just so little here that's worth talking about, remembering ... or paying good money for. As a rainy Saturday cable flick for underage flick junkies, sure. Otherwise just stick with a double feature of Babe and Superman. Now that's a family movie night.