Dr. Dolittle: Million Dollar Mutts (aka Dr.
Dolittle 4/2009/Fox Blu-ray)
Picture:
B-/C+ Sound: B- Extras: D Feature: D
It was
enough that Fox took a big budget musical bomb like Doctor Dolittle (1967) and revive it into a non-musical comedy, but
after three releases, including a third without Eddie Murphy, why continue
it? Greed? Well, a fourth installment has now arrived
and to say it is unnecessary is an understatement. The animals still talk, but they are not cute
if they ever were, just very, very, very annoying. Dr.
Dolittle: Million Dollar Mutts (aka Dr.
Dolittle 4/2009) is an empty check with an empty script among other
emptiness.
“It’s for
children/teens” is no valid argument when this is so bad. Maya (Kyla Pratt) is back and heading for
Hollywood and Beverly Hills, where she becomes tired (she was never that
interesting to begin with) and goes on a narcissistic trip that includes
clothes shopping, a TV show and other self-centered endeavors with another
female friend. After this, you will
realize having young ladies go around splurging and encouraging them to be
shallow is as abusive as other negative portrayals. It runs 87 minutes and that is too long. Skip it!
The 1080p
1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image has motion blur and even noise
throughout indicating a poor HD shoot, made more apparent by the anamorphically
enhanced DVD with plugged-up, strained colors and generally bad shooting that
looks more like a bad toy ad than anything with a story. The DTS-HD Master Audio (MA) lossless 5.1 is also
weak, with a limited use of the surrounds, also obvious on the Dolby Digital
5.1 mix on the DVD. While the DTS is
fuller than the Dolby, it also shows many flaws and limits to the point that
they are about even. Extras include the
bonus DVD, a map you can follow of where this takes place and two very short making-of
featurettes. None of them are
interesting either.
- Nicholas Sheffo
