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A Talking Animal Double Feature

Dolittle (2020)

Despite the first few minutes' promise of an enchanting journey via a traditionally-animated prologue, Dolittle (2020) almost immediately squanders all hope for smooth sailing beyond that point. This movie does a significant disservice to everyone involved, especially Robert Downey Jr. (how this ended up being his first-Avengers: Endgame (2019) role defies all logic). The one performance I found salvageable and rather charming at best came from Carmel Laniado, who plays Lady Rose. Besides that, not even the all-star voice cast for the animals (including Emma Thompson, Rami Malek, Ralph Fiennes, and Marion Cotillard) could save the experience for me, as they were all wasted by being given bottom-of-the-barrel material.


The plot is largely inconsequential as the characters aimlessly travel around the globe to see various animals and their cartoonishly eccentric humans (Antonio Banderas and Michael Sheen's characters are especially ludicrous), while somehow managing to insult every single audience member's intelligence. Ironically, almost the entire audience was made up of children and their families, and they were enjoying themselves. Then again, I am not the film's target audience, so what do I know?


The animals' computer animation looks fine for a straight-to-video release, but it does not reflect the movie's enormous $175 million budget. The "jokes" in this film primarily consist of lazy animal puns and parodies of famous movie lines from the likes of The Godfather (1972) and Rush Hour (1998), which left my eyes rolling so far back in my skull that it somehow became more enjoyable to do than watch this movie.


For context regarding this movie's budget, this project was initially scheduled for the holiday season of 2019 but underwent significant reshoots that not only ballooned the budget up to $175 million (not including the marketing) but resulted in the film being pushed back to January of 2020. I would rather have seen this movie come out in 2019 and have me get over it by the New Year than serve as the first sign for this abysmal year.


After sitting through this film, I became more excited to see Sonic the Hedgehog (2020), a film that had suffered its share of production setbacks, but ultimately proved to be a pleasant surprise. All I can say about this film is Do-little, Do-late, I suppose.


Final Score: 2 out of 10



The One and Only Ivan (2020)


This movie is what Dolittle (2020) should have been: a cute and charming story featuring talking animals with a simple yet lively direction and stellar voice acting.


In the movie, Ivan (voiced by Sam Rockwell), a silverback lowland gorilla, has been the headliner for a small mall circus for years. However, with the circus' declining attendance and one of the leading animals falling ill, Mack (played by Bryan Cranston), Ivan's benevolent caretaker and ringmaster, introduces a new act in the form of a baby elephant named Ruby (voiced by Brooklynn Prince of The Florida Project (2017) fame). From here, Ivan makes a promise to set Ruby free to the wild instead of spending her life as a performer.


This film's greatest assets are the voice acting (especially from Rockwell, Prince, and Danny DeVito), the animation for the talking animals, and Thea Sharrock's direction. Rockwell brings a casual yet inviting demeanor to the titular protagonist, which is neither too cheery and sugar-coated for adults nor too world-weary and cynical for children, thus creating a suitable balance for both audiences. Prince's vocal performance as Ruby captures a contagiously youthful spirit, which is, in a word, adorable. DeVito's gruff yet lovable voice as a dog named Bob provides the film's comic relief in a movie filled with humor accessible for young viewers. The animals' character animation is quite impressive for what appears to be a moderately-sized budget film, and the filmmakers do not waste their resources. Sharrock's directing deserves praise for giving a light-hearted yet compassionate approach to its darker themes such as Mack's wife leaving her husband and Ivan, and the death of Ivan's father (albeit an offscreen one). As risky as the inclusion of said themes are, they feel skimmed over in favor of preserving the film's overall family-friendly tone.


With that said, there are thought-provoking ideas presented in this movie, albeit briefly. For instance, after the animals escape through the forest, they encounter a suburb instead of open fields, as they had envisioned. The shot lingers just long enough for the audience to ponder about how much wildlife humans destroy to create their own homes. The issue of and scenes advocating animal rights is also handled delicately, without hammering it down the audience's throats by having the film side with the animals through the eyes of an observant child.


While The One and Only Ivan does not delve as deep into its darker elements as I would have liked, it is perfectly suited for children and their families currently stuck at home during the quarantine. This little adventure is worth embarking on, even if the destination is somewhat predictable.


Final Score: 8 out of 10

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