Dr. Dolittle 2

A few months ago, I saw "Doctor Dolittle" (the 1998 remake) for the first time in years. I liked it when I was twelve years old, so I was curious to know what I would think after growing up, despite having low expectations. My expectations were surpassed slightly, but if I had never seen "Dr. Dolittle 2" before, its predecessor wouldn't have been enough to make me interested in seeing it, but I did see it about four years ago, and enjoyed it. I was seventeen, past this movie's targeted audience, but didn't tend to watch a lot of movies at the time. I just watched this sequel again, and my once again low expectations were not surpassed at all.

Dr. John Dolittle has become famous for his ability to communicate with animals, but lately, he has also been having trouble with his family. One day, he is brought to the forest to see the Godbeaver, and learns that the forest is rapidly being cut down. The animals who live in this forest are counting on Dr. Dolittle to save their habitat, and in order to do so, the doctor must attempt to get a female Pacific Western bear in the forest named Ava together with a male so he can save the species! He gets a male bear of this species named Archie from a circus, and begins his attempt to get him adjusted to life in the wild and teach him how to win Ava's heart, both of which are easier said than done! It doesn't help that Archie has to compete with a Kodiak bear named Sonny, and logging company owner Joe Potter is determined to get his way!

Although I found no huge laughs in "Doctor Dolittle", I did find some minor ones. However, in this sequel, I found none. I smiled at times, but VERY rarely and briefly. Like its predecessor, "Dr. Dolittle 2" contains some juvenile excretion jokes, though it is a TAD cleaner, for better or worse (since it was aimed at kids, many would probably say it's for the better). These jokes are usually lame, if not always, a good example being the scene where Archie has diarrhea. There are also some embarrassing lines in the script, such as the one Dr. Dolittle has, humiliating his daughter, Charisse by telling her boyfriend how she tried to get out of diapers early and made messes around the house. Fortunately, the movie isn't totally filled with these problems, but most of the film is basically average and forgettable in my book.

Both Dr. Dolittle films starring Eddie Murphy are rather cheesy, and would definitely appeal to kids more than anyone else, but this one more so than the original. If you don't like the 1998 film, then you probably wouldn't like this one, either, but if you do, then you STILL might not like this sequel. "Dr. Dolittle 2" may have a slightly better plot than its predecessor, but overall, it is inferior, not that I'm saying the original is really that good. If you ask me, 1998's "Doctor Dolittle" is very close to being strictly for kids, and this sequel is right there. Remembering the film's targeted audience, I guess it deserves some credit, but if you're not part of that audience, and are not a parent of anyone who is, I wouldn't say there's any need to bother. After watching this, I definitely won't be watching the straight-to-video "Dr. Dolittle 3".

'98's film "Doctor Dolittle" was no great feat but it did manage to create some pretty entertaining moments. So with that in mind I had mild hopes that the sequel would be just as funny. Well it wasn't, it did have a few funny jokes but for the most part this film just plods along, without even trying to be like an actual film. In fact, if it wasn't for the massive use of special effects, this movie could have passed for being direct to video or even a made for cable film.

Eddie Murphy does an okay job as the doctor who can talk to animals and Norm MacDonald is passable as Lucky, the family dog. There are a few other side characters, including an entertaining beaver whose seems very much like a mob boss, but not a violent one. It just isn't a very good movie. The bottom line is it's as basic as a family film can get. * out of 4 stars.

I went to see Dr. Dolittle2 thinking that it was going to be really funny.And it was kinda, the first one was much much FUNNIER then this one. They should have brought back the Ginne pig he made the first one for me.I mean there is some funny parts in Dr.2 but not many,this one is more for the family then the other one was you can tell that by rating PG13 to PG.I mean come on.All together Dr2 will become a great thing to watch on a rainy afternoon, But other then that don't waste your time or money.

"Dr. Dolittle 2" is pretty much what you would expect out of a family comedy, only a tad more crude. We could've done with maybe one less gag about animal urination. The plot is a pious, predictable one involving the preservation of an endangered species of bears. You know, one of those storylines that's supposed to deliver a "message" to all the young ones out there.

Like usual, we have the talking animals voiced by a variety of celebrities. Steve Zahn lends his voice to one of the lead animal characters. He's actually quite funny at times, as a bear/circus performer who's overcome by stardom, and now that he found out he's part of an endangered species he has to learn how to live like a normal bear: start hibernating, eating fish, etc. Lisa Kudrow is the voice of his love interest. Michael Rapaport is funny as a racoon who's the henchman of an alleged animal Mafia.

Since the Dolittle's daughter (Raven-Symone) is all grown-up, we have to expect the obvious romantic subplot in which she hits puberty and engages in an active dating life. Her father, naturally, has doubts about her new supposedly rebellious boyfriend (Lil' Zane). So we're dragged through that unnecessary subplot, which pretty much serves as filler to complete a running time of 100 minutes.

Lately, Eddie Murphy has been tackling PG projects like this and "Shrek." A few years back, he took a try at cleaning his act when doing a voice-over for Disney's "Mulan." Then again, in the flop "Holy Man." I have to admire him for showing his more sanitized approach to comedy. Despite his inability to use the "f" word, he proves he's still a multi-talented comedian and not a talented comedian whose act is totally watered-down and dull because of being forced to clean up his mouth. Though he pretty much plays the straight man (I also have to admire him for his discipline, in remaining subdued and in character rather than viewing the movie as no more than a showcase for his comedy), he still belts out some witty one-liners and proves to be just as funny as his animal companions.

I don't really have any strong opinions about this movie. It's harmless, but it could've used a major rewrite. It's funny at times, but could've been a lot funnier (and less crude). Don't worry, you won't be seeing any gags involving birds crapping into people's mouths or a thermometer getting stuck into a dog's behind. The film has just enough crudeness to achieve the PG rating, but we still could've done without it. Your kids will be rolling in the aisles, while the adults may want to take a few popcorn and bathroom breaks. Not bad (especially for a sequel), but forgettable and even somewhat dull. You're better off catching this one on video.

My score: 6 (out of 10)

Continuing my plan to watch every Eddie Murphy movie in order, I come to Doctor Doolittle 2 (1998)

Plot In A Paragraph: Doctor Doolittle (Murphy) tries to save a forest.

Like Nutty Professor 2, this is the worst kind of sequel!! It exists just because the first movie made money. Again I watched this with my girlfriends daughter, I don't think many people over the age of 10, will find much to enjoy here, as it is pretty much laugh free, devoid of any original ideas, the animal "lip synching" is awful and like with the Nutty Professor 2, the humour is ruder and cruder!! And sadly Murphy is now the angry out of touch Dad, yelling at his teenage daughter to open her bedroom door. There are no attempts to make any jokes to even amuse, let alone entertain the adults watching this. Shrek was far mor intelligent than this. Murphy is the best thing in this, he is not at his best, but he has a relaxed charm. Sadly it's not enough to save the movie. I spent most of my time playing 'Guess the celebrity voice'

Like with The Nutty Professor sequel, this performed slightly worse than the original, but it was still a decent hit, as Dr Doolittle grossed $112 Million at the domestic box office to end the year the 16th highest grossing movie of 2001. Due to the financial success of both movies, I'm actually surprised there has not been third movies in both cases