Through with his commitments to the MCU but still flush with its cash and fame, Robert Downey Jr. could do anything he wants right now. The world is his oyster… and he’s decided to literally talk to that oyster.
Dolittle, Downey’s follow-up to his final portrayal of Iron Man sees him returning to those halcyon days of 2006, when The Shaggy Dog let him speak to an animal. This latest Doctor Dolittle remake hews surprisingly closer to the original film and its source material than the three films Eddie Murphy spawned—and it looks all the worse for it.
While the obvious take may see Downey being comedic ally angry about his newfound ability to communicate with fauna, the actor instead here seems to play the straight man against his cast of CGI feathers and fur. Naturally, all of those animals have notable celebrity voices—what’s weird is, Downey somehow doesn’t. He’s eschewed his natural speaking voice, and even his Sherlock Holmes British, for a self-imposed, inexplicable Welsh accent.
Honestly, add a few songs (as the original boasted) and this would be a predictably tepid Hugh Jackman period vehicle. But as it stands, coming off the similar “Old Disney made turn-of-the-century sweeping adventure” vibes of last week’s Jungle Cruise trailer, it looks even worse than that.
Also not helping the film’s hopes: it was meant to come out in May until poor test screenings pushed out Stephen Gaghan (Syriana) as Disney brought in a new director to do some re-shoots and salvage the project. As a slap in the face, that new director was Battle: Los Angeles, Wrath of the Titans, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle’s Jonathan Liebesman. Because if that guy can’t fix it, who can?
Tellingly, now Dolittle now hits theaters in January.
