Here we go with another remake of a film that wasn't all that great to begin with (see "Yours, Mine & Ours" "The Fog," and "The Hills Have Eyes" as recent examples). Original was released in 1959 and starred Fred MacMurrary and Tommy Kirk, among others, and wasn't the high mark of Disney entertainment, although it was not that bad.
Competently directed by Brian Robbins (TV series "One Tree Hill"), this new version features Tim Allen ("Christmas With The Kranks") as a Los Angeles district attorney, Dave Douglas, trying to climb the corporate ladder while ignoring his lovely wife, Rebecca (Kristin Davis, "Shark Boy & Lava Girl," the TV series "Sex and the City"), and two cute kids, Carly (Zena Grey, "In Good Company") and Josh (Spencer Breslin, "Cat in the Hat").
Dave is prosecuting Carly's teacher, who is accused of firebombing a local chemical company because they experiment on animals (fun family plot, so far), but, in a zany mix-up, the lawyer is bitten by a 300-year-old Tibetan sheepdog (although some sources identify this breed as a bearded collie).
This causes the special effects to go into high gear, as he grows a floppy tongue, super sensitive hearing and the ability to run on all fours before finally turning into a sheepdog (or bearded collie) himself.
Thank goodness he communicates through inner dialogue, though, and not the creepy animated animal mouth movements. His effort to relate his new form to his family is also rather amusing (as they think he has left them), using a Scrabble game to spell out his dilemma and finding out his son would rather be in "Grease" than play football.
Meanwhile, (as a pup) finds out that corporate hack, Dr. Kozak (Robert Downey, Jr.) is indeed using animals to develop a fountain of youth drug. The effects are lacking somewhat when we see the beasts (a ridiculous dog-frog and cobra-canine mutations, as well as rabbits, monkeys and rats that bark), which are as silly as those featured in one of the worst films of 2005, "A Sound Of Thunder."
Kids will like this, and adults will not be too put off, either, but you'd probably be better off to rent or buy the original, for its better acting, more interesting storyline and absence of Tim Allen.
Competently directed by Brian Robbins (TV series "One Tree Hill"), this new version features Tim Allen ("Christmas With The Kranks") as a Los Angeles district attorney, Dave Douglas, trying to climb the corporate ladder while ignoring his lovely wife, Rebecca (Kristin Davis, "Shark Boy & Lava Girl," the TV series "Sex and the City"), and two cute kids, Carly (Zena Grey, "In Good Company") and Josh (Spencer Breslin, "Cat in the Hat").
Dave is prosecuting Carly's teacher, who is accused of firebombing a local chemical company because they experiment on animals (fun family plot, so far), but, in a zany mix-up, the lawyer is bitten by a 300-year-old Tibetan sheepdog (although some sources identify this breed as a bearded collie).
This causes the special effects to go into high gear, as he grows a floppy tongue, super sensitive hearing and the ability to run on all fours before finally turning into a sheepdog (or bearded collie) himself.
Thank goodness he communicates through inner dialogue, though, and not the creepy animated animal mouth movements. His effort to relate his new form to his family is also rather amusing (as they think he has left them), using a Scrabble game to spell out his dilemma and finding out his son would rather be in "Grease" than play football.
Meanwhile, (as a pup) finds out that corporate hack, Dr. Kozak (Robert Downey, Jr.) is indeed using animals to develop a fountain of youth drug. The effects are lacking somewhat when we see the beasts (a ridiculous dog-frog and cobra-canine mutations, as well as rabbits, monkeys and rats that bark), which are as silly as those featured in one of the worst films of 2005, "A Sound Of Thunder."
Kids will like this, and adults will not be too put off, either, but you'd probably be better off to rent or buy the original, for its better acting, more interesting storyline and absence of Tim Allen.