The cast of animal characters that
Dr. Dolittle talks to in this film is just incredible. Each of them
has their own personality. There's the wisecracking Rodney the Guinea
pig whose voice is done by Chris Rock, Lucky the dog voiced by 
Norm
Macdonald, and Albert Brooks as the Tiger. This my friend's is of
course only the tip of the iceberg as other voices during this raucous
comedy are provided by everyone and anyone. John Leguizamo, Julie
Kavner, Garry Shandling, Ellen DeGeneres, Brian Doyle-Murray, Jenna Elfman,
Gilbert Gottfried, Paul Reubens, and too many more to list here.
All of these people are great at giving the life to the voices that John
Dolittle hears. They create the crazy conversations that will make
you laugh out loud, especially the next time your pet looks at you funny.
Though Eddie Murphy is funny in
Dr. Dolittle, he almost plays the straight man next to Chris Rock
and Norm Macdonald. Eddie's character in last summer's smash The
Nutty Professor created much more laughter than his character here,
but he was outstanding as the straight man. To hear 
Eddie
Murphy play off of Chris Rock and Norm Macdonald almost sounded as if they
were in the same room together, and not an animal talking to a human.
Some of the things that the animals and Murphy say just flow so brilliantly
because they are things that everyone of us expect animals would say if
they could talk.
The graphical work in the film, as well, was outstanding as it brought the animals to life. This was done in order to make us believe that they could actually talk to us. And their mannerisms were just so vital to some of the comedic effect. Just wait for Rodney the Guinea Pig to break into song and you'll see that the mannerisms of the animals are almost as exciting as the dialogue. The only downfall to the movie was the fact that it got a little too sappy and slow on a couple of occasions, though that is standard for Hollywood and I won't hold it against them too much. :)
I liked this film, it was a fresh new look on an old topic. Too often people get afraid of the simple fact that Hollywood is "remaking" a film from the past. Each individual film needs to stand on it's own merits whether it's the old or the 1998 version of Dr. Dolittle shouldn't matter. The question we ask ourselves is simple, did we enjoy this film, not the old version, just this one. I enjoyed Dr. Dolittle even though from time to time it was a little crude for a movie that was geared toward young teens, etc... Older teens, and kids at heart like myself, will probably enjoy this film. Just please don't compare it to the original, let it stand on its own merits.
Grade: B
Parents
Guide: The only thing that parents should watch our
for here is that some of the scenes in the film featuring somewhat crude
humor that might not be appropriate for all kids. The 13 rating is
probably a good thing because from time to time the humor jumps into the
gutter. Also there is some mild instances of language that you should
watch out for. The only other questionable part of the movie is we
do get to see a big "butt" of a lady, not really nudity, but kinda gross
nonetheless.