Underdog (2007 film)

Underdog is a 2007 American superhero action comedy film based on the 1960s cartoon series of the same name. Directed by Frederik Du Chau and written by Joe Piscatella, Adam Rifkin, and Craig A. Williams, the film stars Jim Belushi, Peter Dinklage, John Slattery, and Patrick Warburton with the voice talents of Jason Lee, Amy Adams, and Brad Garrett. Unlike the TV series, the Underdog character is portrayed as a regular dog rather than an anthropomorphic one. Underdog, voiced by Jason Lee, was played by a lemon beagle named Leo sporting a red sweater and a blue cape. The film grossed $65.3 million worldwide and has a 16% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which called it "mostly forgettable".

Underdog
Theatrical release poster
Directed byFrederik Du Chau
Produced by
Written by
Based on
Starring
Music byRandy Edelman
CinematographyDavid Eggby
Edited byTom Finan
Production
companies
Distributed byBuena Vista Pictures Distribution[1]
Release date
  • August 3, 2007 (2007-08-03)
Running time
82 minutes[3]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$25 million[4]
Box office$65.3 million[5]

Plot

In the Capital City Town Hall, a beagle on the police bomb squad sets off a false alarm. Ridiculed and rejected, the beagle leaves in shame. He is abducted off of the street by Cad, who takes him to Simon Bar Sinister's lab, where Cad works as an assistant. Bitter his proposal for genetic experimentation was declined, Bar Sinister plans to prove the mayor wrong by testing his new serum on the beagle. The beagle escapes and runs amok in the lab, causing a fire and becoming exposed to various chemicals, which modify his DNA and give him superpowers.

After his escape, the beagle avoids an encounter with a Rottweiler named Riff Raff and his lackeys. Dan Unger strikes the beagle with his car, but, thanks to the serum, the beagle is unharmed. Dan takes him home and names him Shoeshine after the dog licks his shoes. Dan's son, Jack, becomes jealous of Shoeshine's attention. Dan retired from the police to spend more time with Jack after his wife's death but still seems busy. 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. After coming home, Jack complains as he cleans up, and Shoeshine shocks both of them by verbally claiming it was an accident. Jack initially runs away, but after they reach a park, Jack and Shoeshine talk and bond over their respective attraction to Molly and Polly, Jack's friend and her dog. After the girls leave, Jack and Shoeshine test the latter’s powers discovering; he has super speed, strength, hearing, and smell in the process.

When Molly and Polly are mugged, Shoeshine rushes to their aid, discovering he can fly. After discreetly rescuing them, Shoeshine returns home with Jack, making him promise to never reveal his powers. Cad shows up at the door with posters of Shoeshine, but Jack fools him into leaving just before Dan comes home and discovers the mess. Meanwhile, Bar Sinister and Cad find a new lair beneath the city, then plan a robbery to fund rebuilding the former's lab. Seeing Cad's heist on the news, Jack convinces Shoeshine to intervene. Shoeshine disguises himself and saves the hostages, but Cad escapes. Shoeshine adopts the alias "Underdog" and becomes the city's resident superhero; donning a red sweater and blue cape as his disguise.

Bar Sinister repeatedly fails to recreate his serum and sends Cad to obtain a sample of Underdog's DNA. Shoeshine is rebuffed by Polly but gets a date with her as Underdog. Cad fails to capture Underdog but obtains his collar, which contains his secret identity's name and address. Bar Sinister and Cad kidnap Dan and force him to call Shoeshine for help. Shoeshine and Jack attempt a rescue, but Bar Sinister uses both Jack and Dan as hostages to convince Shoeshine to give up his DNA. Bar Sinister synthesizes Underdog's superpowers into pills, injects Shoeshine with an antidote to the serum, and feeds the super pills to three trained German Shepherds. He and Cad leave the family trapped in the sewers, but Dan's police experience allows him to free everyone. They pursue Bar Sinister with a hypodermic needle filled with the antidote.

At city hall, Bar Sinister takes the mayor hostage and instructs Cad to attach a bomb rigged with a mind control serum to the roof; Molly and Polly follow Cad. Shoeshine smells the bomb and, conquering his self-doubt, enters the building despite having lost his powers. During a scuffle with Bar Sinister, Shoeshine accidentally rips open Bar Sinister's pocket and swallows a super pill, restoring his powers. Shoeshine temporarily incapacitates the German Shepherds after he hears Molly and Polly cry for help, but Bar Sinister eats a pill and distracts Shoeshine by tossing a shield like a Frisbee. When the German Shepherds recover, Shoeshine convinces them to turn on Bar Sinister, who has not treated them well. While they restrain Bar Sinister, Underdog appears on the roof and saves Molly and Polly, instructing them to take the mind control serum to the police while he gets the bomb out of harm's way. Dan arrives and injects Bar Sinister with the antidote just as Underdog buries the bomb deep underground just before it explodes. Underdog tries to escape, but is caught in the explosion, launched into space, and presumed dead. Amidst a mournful crowd, Underdog revives, leaving the former overjoyed. Dan is reinstated as a police officer, Bar Sinister and Cad are arrested, and Shoeshine returns to protecting Capital City as Underdog.

Cast

Voice cast

Release

Underdog opened on August 3, 2007, in 3,013 theaters across the United States. It earned $11,585,121 on its opening weekend, placing in third behind The Bourne Ultimatum and the second weekend of The Simpsons Movie.[6] The film closed on December 13, 2007, having grossed $43.8 million in the US box office and $21.5 million overseas for a worldwide total of $65.3 million.[5] The film was released on Blu-ray and DVD on December 18, 2007. Disney has no more plans to reissue this movie on any home media after the first home release, but it is available to purchase on iTunes.[7]

Soundtrack

The licensed soundtrack album is only available as a download on various online music stores. It contains the original score by Randy Edelman and the hip hop rendition of the Underdog theme title, "Underdog Raps", performed by then-Disney star Kyle Massey, which received airplay on Radio Disney. The Plain White T's rendition of the theme, titled "Underdog Rocks", plays at the beginning of the film but was not included on the album.

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 16% based on 70 reviews and an average rating of 4.14/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Underdog is a mostly forgettable adaptation that relies far too heavily on recycled material and sloppy production."[8] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 37 out of 100 based on 16 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[9] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.[10]

See also

References
  1. "Underdog". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved June 4, 2017.
  2. "Underdog (2007)". BFI. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  3. "UNDERDOG (U)". British Board of Film Classification. October 15, 2007. Retrieved July 21, 2015.
  4. "Underdog (2007) | Smokefree Movies". smokefreemovies.ucsf.edu. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
  5. "Underdog (2007)". Box Office Mojo. Internet Movie Database. December 14, 2007. Retrieved July 21, 2015.
  6. "Weekend Box Office Results for August 3-5, 2007". Box Office Mojo. Internet Movie Database. August 6, 2007. Retrieved July 21, 2015.
  7. "Underdog on iTunes". Retrieved September 1, 2020 – via itunes.apple.com.
  8. "Underdog". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved July 21, 2015.
  9. "Underdog". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved July 21, 2015.
  10. "CinemaScore". cinemascore.com. Retrieved November 14, 2016.
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