Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.

I tend to divide the films I see into two categories:

1) Films I see because I really want to
2) Films I see because there’s nothing else on.

Dr. Dolittle 2 definitely fell into the second category. My friends and I decided we were ready for a girls’ night out at the pictures. When we got there we found we were faced with a choice between Tomb Raider and the good doctor. Because none of us (being female) were particularly interested in Lara Croft and her two lethal weapons, we chose Dr. Dolittle as the lesser of two evils.

Perhaps I am not too well qualified to comment on this film, especially as I haven’t seen the first one and am not a huge fan of Eddie Murphy in general. However, I will give you my views on Dolittle from the unbiased perspective of somebody with no background knowledge and nothing to compare it with.

The storyline is incredibly simple. If you go into the movies hoping to be faced with lots of original twists and thought provoking scenarios, please see anything but this. However, if you go hoping to relax and be entertained, then you may as well give it a go. It’s the sort of film to see after having wrestled with quantum physics all day, or when you want a break from rocket science.

Don’t worry if you haven’t seen the first film; you get to know straight away all you need to know about Dr. Dolittle – that he’s a doctor and he talks to animals. Other aspects of his character aren’t so important. Actually, most of the human characters in the film aren’t very well presented and you get to know a lot more about the animals. The humans seem to be a bit of an unwanted extra, as if they’re just put there to emphasise how cruel people can be to big brown bears.

Although he has promised to take his daughters on a round-the-world trip, he takes the eco-friendly option of saving a forest instead. In effect this puts animals ahead of his family’s welfare (which I’m not sure I agree with) but then again, there wouldn’t be a film otherwise so I can’t complain. Where would Dr. Dolittle be without his animals? It’s like having a Juliet without her Romeo, a Laurel without Hardy, a cappuccino without its froth, a professor without his nuttiness. He would just be, erm… a doctor.

There is only one way he can prevent the forest from a cruel demise at the hands of an evil timber company. This is to introduce a performing circus bear (Archie) back into the wild, to meet the only other bear of his species (Ava) and make lots of ickle baby bears. Dr. Dolittle has a month to teach Archie how to be a real bear, including the delightful practise of eating hair before hibernation to form a ‘butt plug’. Unfortunately, Archie is more interested in singing Gloria Gaynor songs – I guess anything’s better than butt plugs.

When the month’s deadline passes and Archie hasn’t quite managed to win Ava’s affections, the court refuses to give him a second chance. All the animals in the world therefore go on strike. It’s a story of animals versus humans, and animals quite naturally have the upper hand. Let’s just say the film has a happy ending, which we knew it would all along, and no prizes for guessing what it is.

There is a bit of a subplot thrown in too, about Dolittle’s daughter aged sweet sixteen and her pizza delivery boyfriend. Are we meant to applaud Dolittle for being so nasty and overprotective? Are we meant to find it funny? Maybe it’s just because I’m a similar age to the girl, but I ended up feeling very sorry for her and convinced that if the doctor was my dad I’d kick him where it hurts and elope with pizza guy.

There is romance in the film, but it’s a child’s perspective of romance – something to snigger about. Human relationships (between Dr. Dolittle and his wife, and the girl and her boyfriend) are a bit of a joke. In contrast, there is a lot of father-daughter bonding and plenty of animals making babies. (By the way, be prepared for some sexual gags. Even if it is the animals doing it, it’s not a film for your kids if they are very young or innocent.)

A lot of the humour is the sort of thing you’d love if you were a nine-year-old boy, and otherwise would cause you to vomit into your popcorn. There are way too many bathroom jokes. Its makers obviously have an unhealthy interest in bodily functions. The humour is not very sophisticated, but would you expect that for a kids’ film? Kids, who the film is targetted at, will probably love it. If you are older than twelve, you may find yourself squirming.

I admit that I did enjoy the film once I was prepared to leave my brain behind, but it’s simply not an adult movie and not the ideal choice for a girls’ night out. I would probably have appreciated it a lot more about seven years ago, when I (like most people in the cinema) was eight and thought that breaking wind was hilarious.

If you see the film because you’re chaperoning children, then that’s a valid excuse and you might have a bit of a laugh anyway. Some of it is actually quite funny. However, if you are child-free then you’d be much better off spending the money on a cheap T-shirt and waiting to rent the video on a rainy day.

I give it three star because there are as many good points as there are bad – there’s a wholesome animal welfare message running through the middle, and Eddie Murphy is not as terrible in it as I’ve heard he usually is. Just don’t set your expectations too high, and you never know, you might be entertained!


Recommended: Yes

Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children up Ages 8