Movie Review - Dr. Dolittle 2

Dr. Dolittle (Eddie Murphy) is back in action. Now he's a famous celebrity doctor with patients (people and animals) lined up around the block. It's his daughter Charisse's (Raven-Symone) sweet 16 when he gets a message from "The Beaver." An evil logging company (is there any other kind?) is chopping down The Beaver's home and he wants the Doc to save it.

The Doc's gotta get two endangered bears, Archie and Ava, to make baby endangered bears, so the forest will be declared a protected habitat - then the loggers can't cut it down. He's up to his eyeballs in a rowdy family, a forest full of talkative critters and two bears who couldn't be more different.

Archie the bear is one of the stars of this flick and he's incredible. He does everything - somersaults, bike riding, song and dance numbers and more. Some of his stunts look impossible for a bear. Either he's smarter than the geeky science nerd in your class or they're using a super-duper bear suit for some scenes.

The rest of the animal voices are done by a ton of different stars. You'll be able to hear stars Frankie Muniz (Malcolm of Malcolm in the Middle,) Lisa Kudrow and Mandy Moore as they do their best critter impersonations.

Eddie Murphy's a funny guy but he's really pushing it in this flick. Every time he's on screen he's all over the place trying to get a laugh. It's funny for a while but it gets tired pretty quick - especially with the weak story.

Some of the jokes are a hoot - like when Archie gets a serious case of the bathroom-bad-news from eating a ton of ice cream. Still the movie feels like it's just a bunch of gags all stuck together, with just enough story to keep it from falling apart. You can tell how the movie's gonna end from the first five minutes. There aren't any twists or surprises. Doctor Doolittle 2 feels more like a TV show, than a movie.

Bottom Line: The animals are fun but the story is weak, the jokes wear thin and there are plot holes you could drive a monster truck through. Dr. Dolittle may talk to the animals, but Eddie Murphy obviously didn't talk to his agent before signing on to this dull flick.

Rating:

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