underdog.jpg I’ll admit, when I first saw the previews for Underdog, I groaned out loud. I thought, here comes another dumb movie that pulls kids in with talking animals but has the stupidest plot ever. I told the kids it was fine if they wanted to ask Grandpa and Grandma to take them, but there was no way I was watching it.

Well, now I am happy to say, I have been proved wrong. Underdog is out on DVD, and…well…I like it, okay? I do. Jason Lee (”My Name Is Earl”) does the voice of Underdog, and his trademark snarky humor elevates the character above just an average “talking dog”. Jim Belushi is surprisingly entertaining as the police officer who takes the dog in after he escapes from Simon Barsinister (Peter Dinklage) and Cad (Patrick Warburton). Peter Dinklage, who you might remember from his brief but funny appearance in “Elf”, shows some major acting chops in what could have been an embarassingly dumb role. Instead, the dialogue and acting are what keep this movie from become something barely tolerable by children. My whole family enjoyed it!

The plot is pretty basic-a beagle named “Shoeshine Boy” (get it? In the original cartoon, Underdog was the mild mannered Shoeshine Boy when he wasn’t a superhero) gets captured by an evil scientist and his henchman. Through a lab accident, he becomes Underdog, escapes, and is taken in by a disgraced cop (Belushi) and his family. He falls in love with Polly Purebread (an adorable King Charles Spaniel voiced by Amy Adams who is currently onscreen in “Enchanted” and “Charlie Wilson’s War”), and along with young Jack, sets out to defeat Barsinister and save the city from destruction.

Kids will like it because of the dogs, and the flying, and the defeating of the evil scientist, as well as for the part of Jack, the son of Belushi’s character, played by Alex Neuberger. This is only is second movie role, yet he has major screen time and is enjoyable to watch. There are a few scenes of dogs in perilous situations that might be scary to very young children, although Kaitlyn wasn’t fazed at all. Adults will like it for Jason Lee’s voice performance, and the acting by Belushi, Dinklage, and Warburton.

For a movie based on a cartoon, and featuring trained dogs whose mouths appear to move as they “speak”, about evil scientists and experiments gone wrong, this movie is clever and entertaining. I give it two thumbs up and suggest you rent or buy it for yourself, your kids, or for a gift!