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"Shy" takes a ride with UNDERDOG!

Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. So, yeah... this probably is just as mediocre as it should be. I was hoping Dinkelage would save it... and it seems he does try. Here's a spy who saw the flick seeing release this weekend!

It's been less than an hour since I left a preview screening of "Underdog". There is a spoiler in the review, so plan your reading accordingly.

While there's no need to fear, there's also no need to waste any brain cells over whether to see this or "Bourne Ultimatum" this weekend. Wait for DVD, or when it's on cable on some rainy day, or if you're stuck on a plane and this is your inflight movie.

The old favorites are there- Riff Raff, Simon Bar Sinister, Cad, Sweet Polly Purebread... The "talking dog" stuff is just as good as the technically above average "talking animal" films, and Peter Dinkelage tries to make the goings on seem more important than they are, while Patrick Warburton tries to make them seem funnier. Voiceover talent (Jason Lee, Amy Adams, BradGarrett) are all adequate.

While all the villians we know and love/hate are there, the biggest villian of all is the script, which adds a father and son who end up adopting a beagle named Shoeshine who was drummed out of police dog squad after screwing up a bombsniffing/PR exercise (are beagles actually considered for bombsniffing, or is this some sort of canine affirmative action thing?). The fact that I can't recall their character names says something, I think. Also (SPOILER)...

...the pill that gives Underdog (and other dogs) the power to do all the wonderful thing he does also works on humans. If this is the case, why waste it on dogs?

(END SPOILER)

Jim Belushi plays the father, and I think he's at least ten years too old for the part. Any time he moves faster than walking, like when he's running up the City Hall steps, he looks like he's running with a load of crap in his pants. And some of the special effects that don't involve making animals talk are pretty shoddy, like making them (or people) fly or when things explode.

There's also some obnoxious General Mills cereal product placement going on, and one for Subway that I've been waffling on as to whether it was cute or not.

I suppose if you have kids to stash somewhere rather than have them see "Bourne" with you, and they've seen "Ratatouille". "The Simpsons" and "Harry Potter" already, you can do worse... like stick them in the theater where "Bratz" is playing. You do that, and I don't believe that you deserve to get them back.

No names, please. I'm Shy.


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Reader Talkback

This just in... Shy has been fired from his job...
by chiahead
Aug 2nd, 2007
11:16:19 PM
First!
by VirgilHilts
Aug 2nd, 2007
11:16:37 PM
Not First!
by VirgilHilts
Aug 2nd, 2007
11:17:30 PM
I SAW BRATZ THE TRAILER TWICE!!!!
by Paul T. Ryan
Aug 2nd, 2007
11:22:54 PM
Why live action?
by mrmgp
Aug 2nd, 2007
11:27:59 PM
"a beagle named Shoeshine"
by Horseflesh
Aug 2nd, 2007
11:38:49 PM
"running like he has a load of crap in his pants"
by tough_times
Aug 2nd, 2007
11:48:58 PM
Go Providence
by derf24
Aug 3rd, 2007
12:03:26 AM
Slusho
by derf24
Aug 3rd, 2007
12:05:18 AM
jim belushi is in this?
by soup74
Aug 3rd, 2007
02:07:46 AM
if i was being too 'geek 1337'..
by soup74
Aug 3rd, 2007
02:13:20 AM
I'm sooo stoked for Alvin and the Chipmunks
by robzass
Aug 3rd, 2007
02:51:22 AM
G1 of Underdog is a complex mythology
by half vader
Aug 3rd, 2007
04:03:30 AM
Bad TV Cartoon Adaptations...
by DuncanHines
Aug 3rd, 2007
04:05:59 AM
WOW Underdog Sucks...
by Redfive!
Aug 3rd, 2007
04:34:35 AM
This is Disney's "loss leader" for the year....
by Otter
Aug 3rd, 2007
04:58:45 AM
There's a shocker!
by Grendle
Aug 3rd, 2007
07:24:34 AM
RING, RING, RING...
by HOTDOGVNDR
Aug 3rd, 2007
07:48:57 AM
Beagles ARE used as bomb sniffing dogs.
by Borgnine JR
Aug 3rd, 2007
08:00:45 AM
This looks so bad it's guaranteed to make $150 million
by SpyGuy
Aug 3rd, 2007
08:01:40 AM
This should have starred UnderDog Lady...
by GrandMuffTarkin
Aug 3rd, 2007
08:55:01 AM
UnderDog
by Refuge5
Aug 3rd, 2007
10:11:34 AM
In The Future....
by Colier Rannd
Aug 3rd, 2007
03:43:02 PM
Why isn't this animated?
by Barry Egan
Aug 4th, 2007
02:56:53 AM
So does Underdog offer anybody....
by Dr Gregory House
Aug 4th, 2007
08:21:57 AM
better then expected...
by cekma
Aug 8th, 2007
10:15:00 AM

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