Summary: A physician discovers that he can talk to animals.
Pros:
The Actors/Voice Acting. Most of the characters are CGI animals with only a few humans we see or interact with throughout the film. But overall, the voice acting is really good.
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Robert Downey Jr. as Dr. John Dolittle. He is a veterinarian who has the ability to speak to animals. I think RDJ is great and he’s always fun to watch. Whatever accent he was doing, I thought was a little weird, I needed subtitles and I’m usually pretty good with accents. BUT he was fun to watch, I liked his humor and the faces he made and he had great chemistry with the CGI animals. He also had pretty good chemistry with Harry Collet as Stubbins. His character starts out as a recluse when we see him, and he’s very much an oddball and he does things that make sense for who he is. I thought all of that was fine. I mean, he was fine. I think he was a great choice, I just wish he had better material.
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Antonio Banderas as Rassouli. I’ve always loved Antonio Banderas, it was great seeing him. His character should have been more involved. He would have been really cool to see more throughout the film. But he was great.
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Michael Sheen as Dr. Blair Müdfly. He is an old schoolmate and rival of Dolittle. I find Michael Sheen really funny and he’s a great actor. His character is a trip and over the top which I guess worked for this film.
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Harry Collett as Tommy Stubbins. He is Dolittle’s self-appointed apprentice. He grew up in a family of hunters but can’t fit in because he doesn’t want to harm animals. I guess he was needed so RDJ isn’t working off of CGI animals the entire time, and he was okay. I didn’t mind him. He was cute.
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Emma Thompson as Polynesia. She is a wise and headstrong macaw and Dolittle’s most trusted advisor. She is his right hand and she often puts him in his place. Honestly, Emma Thompson’s voice is always perfect lol and I think she fits this sort of role so well. She even comes to the rescue a few times. Poly ran the show lol.
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Rami Malek as Chee-Chee. He is an anxious but noble gorilla. I love Rami Malek, he can literally do no wrong for me. I knew his voice as soon as he started speaking lol. I liked his character because he has the potential to be strong but he’s always worried he’ll mess something up. I think he was a captive at some point which I think lends itself to that. I wish it was talked about more since he was a major character. But while I know his voice, he almost didn’t sound like himself lol.
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John Cena as Yoshi. He is an upbeat polar bear who wears a bashlyk. He doesn’t like the cold, which is his thing. I liked him too. He was cool and I liked his chemistry with Kumail Nanjiani’s ostrich character. He came through in a lot of intense moments and we got some funny physical comedy with him as well. Polar bears are huge.
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Kumail Nanjiani as Plimpton. He is a cynical and fussy but well-meaning ostrich who wears stockings and quarrels with Yoshi. I liked him a lot lol, I didn’t recognize his voice, but I’m not that familiar with him yet to know his voice off jump. But I liked the friendly rivalry he had with John Cena’s polar bear.
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Octavia Spencer as Dab-Dab. She is an enthusiastic and crazy duck with a wooden leg and she’s pretty great. She has some great lines.
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Tom Holland as Jip. He is a loyal dog who wears glasses and I wish we got to see more of him. He seemed like he was Dolittle’s left hand which was nice to see him be trusted as was but I feel like he should have been human though.
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Craig Robinson as Kevin. He’s always funny so him playing a crazy squirrel who throughout the movie has a vendetta against humans, because he was shot (by accident) is probably the highlight of the jokes.
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Ralph Fiennes as Barry. He is a ferocious tiger with gold-tipped fangs who has a past with Dolittle. This should have been explored more and it wasn’t, the potential was amazing! So much could have been done here. Ralph Fiennes has a great voice so there’s that.
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Selena Gomez as Betsy. She is a friendly giraffe who is hardly in this movie and I really didn’t recognize her voice lol. But I think she does great with voice overs.
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Marion Cotillard as Tutu. She is hardly in this movie lol, but I love her voice. She’s a French fox who is friends with Betsy.
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Jason Mantzoukas as James. He is a wisecracking dragonfly who meets Dolittle in a prison cell from which he helps him escape. I find this actor funny most times and his delivery is great. His moments on screen were pretty funny.