|
The Movie: Earlier this Summer, Eddie Murphy provided the voice for the Donkey character in "Shrek". It was a freeflowing, funny, sharp performance that was one of the actor's most lively in recent years. The film has gone on to become the year's biggest hit, passing the 200 million dollar mark. Now, Murphy is talking to the animals in this sequel to the hit from a couple of years ago. One of the elements that helped the original tremendously was the direction of Betty Thomas (who also did a fine job with the Howard Stern film "Private Parts"), who showed a strong ability to guide the comedy to its potential. This time around, the director is Steve Carr, whose only previous work has been "Next Friday". The results, with a somewhat weaker plot, are less interesting, only generating a few infrequent laughs - not that the original was a laugh-riot, but the jokes seem slimmer here. This time around, the Doctor is called upon to save the animals of a forest, which is planned to be completely cut down by the evil Mr. Potter (Jeffrey Jones, doing his usual bad-guy routine). To save the forest, Dolittle must get a city bear (Steve Zahn) to mate with a country bear (Lisa Kudrow). If Dolittle can get the two endangered species to mate within a month, disaster is averted. Dragged along for the ride are Kristen Wilson as Dolittle's wife Lisa; Kyla Pratt as Dolittle's daughter Maya; Raven Symone as his other daughter Charisse. In a dismal subplot that's out of a bad sitcom, Charisse is getting to "that age" where she's wanting to be away from her parents. She also has her first boyfriend, Eric (L'il Zane), which prompts a lot of "I'm watching/warning/keeping an eye on you" from the Doctor when he shows up at the cabin. What little humor involved comes from the talking animals - mainly Jacob Vargas as a talking chameleon who can't seem to blend in with the furniture. Returning is the always amusing Norm McDonald as the voice of Lucky the Dog, who also finds romance during the journey. It's too bad that the human stars couldn't be as energetic. Murphy often seems to be on autopilot throughout the picture, providing a few energetic moments, but mainly keeping low-key. Neither the screenplay, nor the direction provide any help, though. Carr and cinematographer Daryn Okada provide bland, unenergetic cinematography that doesn't help things move along, nor do some of the sets look like more than just...sets. The PG rating signals that this would be okay for kids. There are some jokes that are purely bathroom humor, but certainly nothing kids today haven't heard before at this point. What I was suprised about is that there's really nothing for the adults in the audience - this is really geared completely towards the younger crowd, unlike Murphy's "Shrek", which provided equal helpings of humor for both sets. |