Everybody loves the underdog, regardless of the arena in which they compete. Whether it's David versus Goliath or some unranked player getting the chance to defeat the world champion of any given sport, people like rooting for the little guy. And that's mainly because most everyone is the "little guy" in one way or another, and thus can enjoy the potential of vicarious victory through them in regards to whatever personal or professional challenge they face.
Although its title character was a diminutive beagle who wasn't exactly the most graceful or coordinated pooch around, the old TV cartoon "Underdog" wasn't really about exploring the themes of its namesake.
Instead, it was a spoof of the popular TV series of the day, "Superman," and contained many comedy riffs on the various Man of Steel legends and details (and was born, of all things, as a cartoon character for a certain cereal brand), all done featuring an anthropomorphized, crime-fighting beagle with a penchant for rhyming his lines.
Cute and amusing, it wasn't as smart as Rocky and Bullwinkle or as funny as the Looney Toons shorts. Yet, it found a loyal audience among young kids and survived through years of syndication (in fact, much longer than I remembered or could have imagined).
No stranger to mining the past for film product (be that its own cartoons or even theme park attractions), Walt Disney Pictures has now gone retro once again by making a live-action, feature length remake of the old show in the appropriately titled "Underdog."
Featuring a real beagle and a load of decidedly less than state of the art special effects to show him in superhero action and mode, the film aims to mix both the various elements of the TV show with the thematic, definition-based aspects of the title.
Accordingly, while most of today's kids won't know the old Underdog from Hong Kong Phooey or Astro, some of their parents will recognize bits and pieces of the characters and general plot that have been resurrected for inclusion here.
From what I can tell, it's fairly successful at that (although I was rather young when the show first aired), but less so when trying to peddle its feel good, small guys can overcome message. Younger viewers might not notice or care, but the efforts by director Frederik Du Chau and screenwriters Adam Rifkin and Joe Piscatella & Craig A. Williams are more than a bit clunky in such regards.
Beyond the title character who's bad at being a police dog before his superhero transition, there's his human "master" (Alex Neuberger doing a standard teen character) and that teen's father (James Belushi, generally fine if unremarkable as the former cop turned security guard) who are still reeling from the death of the mother sometime in the recent past.
While the dog (blandly voiced by Jason Lee) gets grief from a bully dog (Brad Garrett doing his big voice thing), and the dad receives the same for quitting the force, it's odd that they didn't give Jake more of a dilemma to overcome (not that the loss of a mother is an easy thing, but there's no personification that makes him the underdog).
Peter Dinklage takes up some of that slack as the film's diminutive villain who's trying to prove his worth despite his stature, and is something of the film's Lex Luthor to Patrick Warburton's dimwitted, Otis type sidekick. The mad scientist's efforts with genetic manipulation are the catalyst for Underdog getting his superpowers, but much of that's relegated to sped-up footage of him zipping along and crashing into or through various things.
A subplot featuring Taylor Momsen as the school newspaper reporter the teen boy sort of likes doesn't really add much. But it does provide for more of the Superman spoof, what with Underdog taking that girl's pooch (voiced by Amy Adams) on a nighttime flying tour of the city, much like Superman did for Lois Lane (paw to paw, rather than hand to hand).
Other bits of homage include a brief one to the classic spaghetti scene from "Lady and the Tramp." However, all I can say is that I'm happy it now seems they've perhaps finally retired the "Who Let the Dogs Out?" song that apparently was once required in any movie featuring pups.
It's also good that this isn't the canine equivalent of the awful and irritating Garfield films. That's not to say, however, that it's somewhat good or even competent cinema. Fine for less discerning younger viewers, but only partially amusing or entertaining for anyone else, "Underdog" regularly tries to take flight, but is repeatedly grounded by its clunky trappings and design. It rates as a 3.5 out of 10.
![[Screen It]](/images/underground_header.jpg)