Skip to main content


Rating: 3.5/5
Review: "Dolittle 3D" (106 minutes)

"A simple story that is enhanced by the great realistic CGI animals and decent immersive 3D format."

To be frank, I didn't have any expectation for Dolittle because it's a January movie. We all know it's the month where studios like to dump their poorly-received movies. However with a hefty budget of US$175 million, it's really a surprise that Universal Pictures has little faith in it. With overwhelming negative reviews, it is indeed true.

So is it really that bad?

No, it's not if you are looking for harmless fun. Maybe it's better to watch it with a weekday ticket price instead of a weekend ticket price. Critics have complained that it is disjointed and it is clear why they said so. The movie is fast paced but for the wrong reason. Things come and go. I felt many scenes seem to be cut out. It's the same feeling I had with Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. What Star Wars has to its advantage is its big scale action scenes. On the other hand, Dolittle has a massive budget but it feels surprisingly small. Sure, there is the grand adventure. But it feels that the PG rating limits the few action scenes. They were fun to watch but they are tame for an adventure movie. On top of that, it felt anticlimactic.

The story is also fairly simple. There are hardly any surprises. So if you take away the plot and the adventure, what you get are the actors who try to keep thing afloat. Robert Downey Jr tried his best to keep the movie alive by adding his wits and gruff voice. Nothing fantastic but it is not a bad try. The stars are definitely the beautifully animated animals. They are rendered realistically and do not feel hollow during the interactions with the humans. The voice acting is decent and entertaining enough. At least, some part of me feel like the budget is justified.

3D: I'm not sure if it is shot in 3D. By the looks of modern post-production, it seems like this is another big-budget movie to get a post-conversion. The technology has improved a lot from the past few years. Watching it in 3D is definitely immersive. There's a natural sense of extra dimension and depth. It is surprising that in Phnom Penh, there are more 3D time slots that 2D.

Overall: Should you watch this in cinema? It really depends on what you are looking for. If you are looking for a grand adventure, I suggest that this movie is not for you. However if you are looking for some harmless fun with cute animals, this is the one. Catch it in 3D if possible. Being immersed in Dolittle's world might distract you from all the negativity it faces.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Rating: 3.4/5 Review: "The Spirit of Ramayana" (103 minutes) "A passable Thai horror movie with an interesting concept but weak execution." As a low-budget horror movie, it has enough entertainment values. In the recent years, there are a few strong Thai horror movies with decent production values and there are many mediocre low-budget horror movies. The Spirit of Ramayana is somewhat in the middle. It may not look that polished but its themes and concept are intriguing enough. The story: The narrative is straight forward however its editing made the movie look messy and disjointed. It is a simple story about Mintra, a young dancer who is rejected for the main role because she cannot pull off an evil and sensual side. However, a spirit helps her to unleash her dark side. On paper, it sounds like a supernatural Black Swan. It lacks the emotional depth of Black Swan as the director seems only interested in churning out cheap scares. As the plot develops fur...
Post a Comment
Read more
Rating: 3.7/5 Review: "Terminator Salvation DVD review" -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is not bad. It is not the worst terminator movie, I actually thought Terminator 1 is just okay. Terminator 2 and 3 are quite entertaining followed by also entertaining Salvation. MCG, the director of Charlies' Angels, takes the directing seat and turned terminator into a dark and gritty world. As what he said, he did not want the future to be a shiny world but a dark and gritty world. He is considered to have done a great job in that and creating the realistic and cool action. But his story pretty much stays the same as his other movies, a simple mindless thrill ride. The story: The future is here and the year is 2018...John Conner is a daring man who will be willing to save people from Skynet, a evil organisation which creates Terminators. A mysterious man who is supposed to be dead suddenly finds himself in the year of...
Post a Comment
Read more
Quick DVD reviews Rating: 3.6/5 Review: "Batman: Gotham Knight DVD review" --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The 2D animated movie has six different stories which are interesting on their own. The stories are fast-paced and some of them are action-packed due to the short runtime. The whole movie is only 1 hour and 16 minutes. Some of the famous villians are featured like Scarecrow and the Lizard. The six different stories also have their different styles, Batman seems like a fat monster in one of the story and he is a sleak man in black in another. Overall: It is a good watch even for those who are not a Batman fan but are into the recent live-action Batman movies. DVD special features-3.7/5 The second disc features two good and informative featurettes. One is about the villans of Batman (36 minutes). The writers and producers explain some of the famous villians like Joker and Scarecrow. The interesting facts are that they even ...
Post a Comment
Read more