'Dolittle', Robert Downey Jr's first film post-'Avengers: Endgame' is fun but forgettable and far too chaotic
Expectations can really kill a movie, especially when it's the first movie a big star is doing right after concluding a decade-long commitment to a franchise. Robert Downey Jr.'s fans, this writer included, were all quite understandably excited to see what his first movie after 'Avengers: Endgame' would look like but the first few reviews that came out for 'Dolittle' didn't give us much hope.
That's actually quite unfortunate because the movie does have its positives. For example, Danny Elfman does an excellent job on the score and the film's artwork is beautifully created, especially the animated sequence at the beginning of the film.
What drags 'Dolittle' down is the haphazard, positively chaotic way in which the story is told. Big moments appear on screen and exit just as quickly, barely giving us a chance to savor them.
To make matters worse, there just isn't enough space within the time frame of the movie to let all the characters have a go in the spotlight. Plimpton (Kumail Nanjiani) and Yoshi (John Cena), Betsy (Selena Gomez) and Tutu (Marion Cotillard), even the vengeful squirrel Kevin (Craig Robinson), are all barely given a chance to show what they're made of before we're distracted by someone or something else happening elsewhere on screen.
There are quite a few inconsistencies in the plot and in all honesty, a movie about Dolittle's early adventures with Lily, the love of his life, might actually have been more enjoyable for an audience of all ages. The film did undergo extensive reshoots and quite a few script changes, all of which have contributed to making the story on screen far less interesting to a thinking audience than the things implied to have happened off of it.
As it stands, 'Dolittle' doesn't really rank amongst Downey Jr.'s best works but that said, it's not as terrible as some would have you believe. It's ultimately meant to be a children's film and there's plenty of excitement to be had for its intended audience but not so much for anyone else.
Kids, you might want to leave your parents home for this one, unless you're okay with their snores interrupting your fun adventure.
'Dolittle' released in theaters on January 17.