UNDERDOG - Blu-ray review

Having a family makes you respond to family films differently from people who don't have a bunch of rug-rats running around the house. Part of it is that you're so darned grateful when something holds their attention long enough to slow them down that your feel-the-love gratitude can't help but spill over onto the review. But mostly I think it's because having children enables you to see things through a child's eyes again, and magnifies your own reaction. John's review of "Underdog" comes at it from an adult perspective. Mine will be for parents who want to know whether this title is worth renting or adding to the family video library.

There's been a tendency lately to push the family-movie envelope so that the films will appeal more to adults. As a result, we're seeing some pretty severe "rating inflation." Formerly G movies are now PG or PG-13, which means that children are subjected to more adult-level violence, language, and innuendo because studios apparently think this is how you make films "work" for more than just the young children. But count me among those who thinks that adult appeal shouldn't come at the children's expense. In families, the children often come first, and that should be the case with family films. If the kids like it, and it's not nearly as insipid as the TV shows kids watch these days and the adults can watch it as well, then in my book it qualifies as a decent family movie.

I think you have to credit director Frederik Du Chau and his writers for staying PG and giving families a superhero film that even the youngest children can enjoy without cowering or covering their eyes during intense moments. There's peril here, but it's all blunted by comedy, so that "Underdog" works with pre-schoolers as well as grade-schoolers. The worst lines come when Underdog tells his "owner" that he'd better bring a pooper-scooper along on their walk, because he's getting "that special feeling," or when Underdog's heartthrob Polly has other "special thoughts" and concludes, "There's not a hose cold enough to break that up." Let's hope that one went over the little ones heads, because the rest of this film is family-friendly and family-funny. It was a hit with both our nine-year-old boy and our six-year-old girl. The best way to describe this one is that it's for kids, but it's also not so insufferable that the adults will have to fight the urge to get up and clean the house or something.

When you consider "Underdog" in the context of it's "genre"--that is, live-action versions of beloved animated TV shows or films--it starts to look positively brilliant. Even the best among them, "101 Dalmatians" (1996), featuring a frightening Glenn Close as the villainess, was a huge disappointment. But it wasn't nearly "The Flintstones" (1994) bomb that John Goodman and Co. tossed our way, or Freddie Prinz Jr. and the gang forced us to endure with "Scooby-Doo" (2002). "Casper" (1995) also was no great shakes, and neither was "The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle" (2000). In fact, given the wretched record of live-action remakes of animated favorites, you have to wonder why anyone even bothers with them. It might not be high praise, but I enjoyed "Underdog" more than any of these awful adaptations, and for a number of reasons.

First, I thought it was inventive the way that writers connected with the animated TV-show. Those who remember the original "Underdog" show, which was broadcast on Saturday mornings in 1964, may recall that Wally Cox lent his milquetoast voice to the title character, whose cover was Shoeshine Boy. Sweet Polly Purebred was a TV reporter, while Underdog's nemesis was a diminutive evil genius named Simon Bar Sinister and his henchman Cad. Now, it's pretty hard to have a live-action cocker spaniel work as a shoeshine boy or a reporter and still make a smidgen of sense, but the writers have a beagle lick shoes in order to get the nickname "Shoeshine," and as for Polly, well, who needs reporters anyway? But it's more than a little clever that as this live-action Underdog starts fighting crime and saving people, before newspaper photographers can capture him in action they run graphic illustrations that, yes, are taken from the old TV show!

And Simon Barsinister? A superhero needs a strong villain, and while Peter Dinklage ("Elf") isn't a dead-ringer for the bald-headed cartoon bad guy, Dinklage brings a fun and energetic dynamic to the role that enables you buy into the live-action concept. Bar-none, Barsinister is the character that makes this work: a diminutive evil scientist who messes with genetic engineering, injects a beagle with his serum, and spends half the film trying to get that beagle back and the other half committing crimes against the city that laughed at him when he suggested they use his "talents."

As any vaudevillian would tell you, it's tough to follow an animal act. Dinklage holds his own, and Patrick Warburton comes close as Cad, but Jim Belushi really seems underused and needing direction as the former cop who became a security guard when his wife died so as not to put his life on the line. Naturally his son Jack (Alex Neuberger) doesn't appreciate the sacrifice, and instead thinks Dad sold out or is some sort of wuss. He should have been complaining that Dad doesn't have enough to do in this film.

Jason Lee is no Wally Cox. There might be a little gravel in each of their voices, but we're so used to hearing Lee doing the voiceover for "My Name is Earl" that when he says a line like "Destiny is a funny thing" we're hearing "Karma is a funny thing." Okay, it's a deliberate allusion to the television show, but then we adults are thinking "Earl" for a long time afterwards. The same thing happens when the writers go for self-conscious references to the old cartoon show. I'm fine with talk about needing a hero catch-phrase like "It's clobberin' time" or "Up, Up and Away," but to have Underdog try out four or five dumb failures before hitting on "There's no need to fear, Underdog is here" just beats that TV show line to a pulp.

Neuberger and Taylor Momsen (as Molly, the owner of that cocker spaniel named Polly, who's voiced by Amy Adams) are pretty much there throughout the film for the convenience of plot. There's no character development, and not enough character interaction to make us care a whole lot. Thankfully the action and pace keep us diverted, as does Simon Barsinister (as it's spelled here). The effects aren't bad, and the gags and jokes are just funny enough to appeal to a wide range of ages-mostly kids, but I have to say that the adults laughed a few times too. "Underdog" might not be great cinema, but it's amusing enough, the animals are fun to watch, and the effects are enough to make you buy the concept.

Video:
The DVD gave you a choice of 1.33:1 pan-and-scan or widescreen, but the Blu-ray is strictly 2.35:1 aspect ratio. But hey, it's Hi-Def, and it looks very good. There are some outdoor scenes that show some atmospheric graininess, but other than that there's a pleasing amount of detail, decent black levels, and nice bold, rich colors (except when Underdog goes through an office building and things seem a little blander--the water cooler effect?).

Audio:
The featured soundtrack is an English 5.1 PCM (uncompressed) audio which really zips and swooshes as Underdog flies along in his cape. It's a booming-bass soundtrack that has a nice timbre and clear high notes. No complaints here. Additional options are English, French, and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1, with subtitles in English SDH, French, and Spanish.

Extras:
Funnily enough, the Blu-ray features are different from the scant DVD bonus features. Missing from the DVD features is a six-minute making-of promo-style feature, but added is an additional original "Underdog" cartoon episode featuring Simon Bar Sinister ("Simon Says") and three more deleted scenes (to bring the total to six). Also on the Blu-ray is a brief blooper reel and a music video by Kyle Massey and a bunch of rooftop singers and dancers that will appeal to only those who get into rap. The big feature is on the dog training, "Sit. Stay. Act: Diary of a Dog Actor," which runs about 15 minutes. They're okay, but nothing special.

Bottom Line:
I'm not going to tell you it's great cinema, but my reaction wasn't nearly as negative as John's. If you grew up with "Underdog," you won't find this as much of an affront to your sacred memories as "The Flintstones" or "Scooby-Doo" live-action bombs, neither will you find that this has even remotely the "edge" that the cartoon series did. It's tame by comparison, and not nearly as much of a parody of superhero films as the original. But at least "Underdog" kept the whole family in their seats. These days, that's saying something.