Underdog (film)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Underdog

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Frederik Du Chau
Produced by Gary Barber
Roger Birnbaum
Jay Polstein
Jonathan Glickman
Screenplay by Adam Rifkin
Joe Piscatella
Craig A. Williams
Story by Joe Piscatella
Adam Rifkin
Craig A. Williams
Based on Underdog 
by W. Watts Biggers
Starring Jason Lee
Jim Belushi
Peter Dinklage
John Slattery
Patrick Warburton
Alex Neuberger
Taylor Momsen
Brad Garrett
Amy Adams
Music by Randy Edelman
Cinematography David Eggby
Editing by Tom Finan
Studio Walt Disney Pictures
Spyglass Entertainment
Classic Media
Maverick Films
Distributed by Buena Vista Pictures
Release dates August 3, 2007
Running time 84 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $60 million
Box office $65,270,477

Underdog is a 2007 American live action action comedy superhero film based on the 1960s cartoon series of the same name. The film was directed by Frederik Du Chau and stars Peter Dinklage as Dr. Simon Bar Sinister, Patrick Warburton as Cad Lackley, and Jason Lee as the voice of Underdog. The film also stars Jim Belushi, Alex Neuberger, Taylor Momsen, and Amy Adams. The film was loosely based on the super-powered cartoon character of the same name and several other characters from the cartoon. It was produced by Spyglass Entertainment and Classic Media and released theatrically in the United States by Walt Disney Pictures. It was filmed in Providence, Rhode Island.

The film was the third highest grossing film in box office on the opening weekend of its release, but the film received extremely negative reviews.

Plot

The film opens with a slight introduction from the main hero of the film, Underdog, who introduces the audience to himself, Simon Bar Sinister (the main villain of the film), and his henchman Cad. The film then enters into Capital City town hall, where a beagle on the police bomb squad, sets off a false alarm after smelling a large ham in some boxes in front of where the mayor was giving a speech. After being put down by his fellow police canines, the beagle leaves in shame and is abducted off the street by Cad, who takes him to Simon's lab. Simon is bitter against the mayor, who has turned down his proposal for a type of genetic experimenting for the city, plans to prove him wrong by testing his new serum on the beagle. However, the dog escapes and runs amok in the lab, causing a fire and accidentally becoming exposed to a variety of DNA concoctions and chemicals Simon developed, which modifies his DNA and gives him the strength to break through the metal door to the lab. After witnessing his work's "success" a burning monitor falls onto Simon and Cad rushes to his aid.

Later the beagle is chased out of an ally by a large Rottweiler named Riff Raff and his lackeys, and is hit by a car belonging to Dan Unger. However, thanks to the serum he absorbed, the beagle is unharmed and taken home by Dan, who names him Shoeshine the next day, after having his shoes licked by the beagle. Dan introduces Shoeshine to his son Jack, though the boy is less than pleased by Shoeshine's presence, thanks to a wedge between father and son after Dan retired from the police force to spend more time with Jack, only to never actually get the time to be home with him. Jack leaves for school and Dan for work, leaving Shoeshine at the house alone, where he, still unaware of his new powers, accidentally makes a very large mess of the place, with his new powers unexpectedly breaking a window with his bark, crushing a can of chili with his bite, and having extra strength to easily lift the couch up and throw it across the room. Jack comes home to the destruction and begins to clean up, complaining, to which Shoeshine responds, "Give me a break, it was an accident!", which leads to both of them realizing (to their shock) that Shoeshine can speak human language. Jack initially tries to get away from Shoeshine, but after they reach a park, the two begin to talk and bond a little when a friend of Jack's, Molly, walks over and introduces them to her Cavalier Spaniel Polly, whom Shoeshine is smitten with on sight. After the girls leave, Jack and Shoeshine experiment with his powers through various habits of dogs such as digging, fetching, hearing, and sniffing (though the sniffing doesn't go so well, as Shoeshine feels insecure about his sense of smell).

Far away, Molly and Polly are being mugged by two men, and Shoeshine hears Molly's call for help and rushes to their aide, running faster than he has ever before, and discovering he can fly in the process. He rescues the two without them seeing him, and returns home with Jack, making him promise never to tell anyone about his powers, then helps his new friend try to clean up before Dan comes home. Cad shows up at the door with posters of Shoeshine, as Bar Sinister wants him back for his power, but Jack is able to get him to leave without suspecting anything just before Dan comes home to discover the mess. Meanwhile, Simon and Cad find a new lair beneath the city, then plan a robbery to get the funds they need to rebuild Simon's lab. Cad leads a band of thugs to rob a jewelry store, seen on the news by Shoeshine and Jack, who convinces Shoeshine to use his powers to save the hostages inside. Shoeshine consents, disguising himself with a fish kite so he won't be recognized, and saves the hostages, though Cad escapes with some of the stolen goods. From then on, Shoeshine adopts the alias Underdog, and becomes the city's resident superhero, dawning a shrunken red sweater and blue cape as his disguise.

Simon's attempts to recreate his serum are unsuccessful time and time again, so he sends Cad to try and obtain a sample of Shoeshine's DNA, hoping to use it to recreate the serum. Shoeshine, meanwhile, is unsuccessful at trying to ask Polly out, but gets an idea when she reveals her crush on Underdog to him, prompting him to ask her on a date as Underdog, which goes successfully. Meanwhile, Cad's attempt to capture Underdog goes unsuccessful, but he does manage to obtain his collar, which has his name and address on it. Simon and Cad go to the house and kidnap Dan, making him believe they have Jack to subdue him, and force him to call for Shoeshine for help. Shoeshine hears Dan's cries, and he and Jack go to rescue him, only for Simon to use both Jack and Dan as hostages to convince Shoeshine to give up his DNA. Not wanting his family to be hurt, Shoeshine complies, and Bar Sinister makes a whole jar full of pills that contain Underdog's super powers. Simon convinces Shoeshine to take an antidote pill, turning him back into a real beagle, then feeds the super pills to three German Shepherds he obtained and trained. He and Cad leave the family trapped in the sewers, but thanks to Dan's experience from the police force, he is able to set everyone free and they take off after Bar Sinister with a hypodermic filled with the super power antidote.

Meanwhile, Simon takes the Mayor hostage in city hall and instructs Cad to attach a bomb rigged with a mind control serum to the roof of the building. Molly and Polly follow Cad after witnessing him head through the service entrance. Shoeshine, meanwhile, smells the bomb Cad is carrying, at first doubting his nose, but decides to trust his instincts and heads inside the capitol building despite being powerless to confront Simon. During a short struggle (in which the mayor is knocked unconscious), Shoeshine accidentally rips open Simon's pocket, gaining access to the super pills and eating one, getting his powers back. He does battle with the three German Shepherds, whom he temporarily incapacitates after hearing Polly and Molly in danger, as they were captured by Cad and tied to the roof of the building beside the bomb. Enraged with Underdog's return to foil his plan, Simon eats at least two of the super pills and gains super powers himself, fighting Underdog until he distracts him with one of his natural instincts; chasing a frisbee, which is actually a giant iron shield from a statue. Underdog is knocked down by rubble long enough for the German Shepherds to recover, but he convinces them that Simon isn't a good master by pointing out Simon's mistreatment of them and the fact that he has never given them real names. The German Shepherds turn on Simon, realizing their role is as man's best friend, not man's best slave, and restrain him with their strength while Shoeshine rushes to disarm the bomb.

The Mayor regains consciousness and stumbles outside, allowing Dan through the police barricade to deal with Simon by injecting the antidote into him. Shoeshine quickly dons his Underdog uniform again and flies to the top of the town hall, freeing Polly and Molly, then taking the bomb to a nearby park, where he digs a hole miles beneath the surface, and buries the bomb. He attempts to rush out of the hole before it detonates, but is caught in the blast halfway out and is blasted so high he reaches orbit, then falls back to the Earth, where he lands unconscious. Jack, Dan, and everyone in the crowd begin to mourn the fallen hero, but Underdog wakes up, singed, but unharmed much to everyone's joy. Simon and Cad go to jail, and Shoeshine returns to his normal life protecting the citizens of Capital City as Underdog. The film closes with the citizens reciting the same phrases from the original Underdog cartoon, "Look, up in the Sky! Its a bird, its a plane, its a frog! (as one goofy citizen always comments)", to which Underdog replies, "Not bird, nor plane, nor even frog, its just little old me, Underdog!"

Cast

Visual effects

The bulk of the visual effects work on the film was completed by two London-based companies, Frame Store CFC, and Cinesite. The visual effects supervisor at Cinesite was Ben Shepherd, and the animation supervisor was Alexander Williams.

Merchandise

The merchandise for the film was released on July 31, 2007 at the Disney Store. Among the merchandise released that day was a soundtrack album from Hollywood Records and books from Disney Publishing Worldwide. A video game was planned to be released for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, Wii, and Nintendo DS in time for the film's release, but was cancelled due to negative pre-release reviews along with its massive box office failure.

Reception

Box office

Underdog was released on August 3, 2007, in 3,013 theaters across the US. It grossed $11,585,121 on its opening weekend, placing in third among that weekend's films in release. As of October 11, 2007, Underdog made $42,937,703 at the domestic box office.

Critical

Upon its release, Underdog was universally panned by critics. Rotten Tomatoes' freshness rating for Underdog stood at 16% in March 2010, the lowest of director Du Chau's three movies at that time (Quest for Camelot and Racing Stripes, receiving 35% and 34% respectively). The movie consensus on that site reads:

"Underdog is a mostly forgettable adaptation that relies far too heavily on recycled material and sloppy production."

Ken Fox of TV Guide said: "If you set your expectations just low enough, or are an easily satisfied 8-year-old, you might have a bit of fun." The New York Daily News saw Underdog as being "made for the Saturday morning TV crowd," claiming that "parents who lead their tykes to this adventure aren't likely to leave disappointed."

Home media

Underdog was released on standard DVD on December 17, 2007. A Blu-ray combo pack containing the Blu-ray standard and 3D versions, along with the DVD and a digital copy, was released on November 28, 2010 as a Target Exclusive.

The DVD and Blu-ray Disc releases contain the film in both the Widescreen 2.35:1 and Fullscreen aspect ratios selectable through the options menu. Both releases contain the first episode of Underdog on the bonus features section.

See also

References

    External links

    Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Underdog
    This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.