User Reviews

"Dr. Dolittle 2" is pretty much what you would expect out of a family comedy, only a tad more crude. We could've done with maybe one less gag about animal urination. The plot is a pious, predictable one involving the preservation of an endangered species of bears. You know, one of those storylines that's supposed to deliver a "message" to all the young ones out there.

Like usual, we have the talking animals voiced by a variety of celebrities. Steve Zahn lends his voice to one of the lead animal characters. He's actually quite funny at times, as a bear/circus performer who's overcome by stardom, and now that he found out he's part of an endangered species he has to learn how to live like a normal bear: start hibernating, eating fish, etc. Lisa Kudrow is the voice of his love interest. Michael Rapaport is funny as a racoon who's the henchman of an alleged animal Mafia.

Since the Dolittle's daughter (Raven-Symone) is all grown-up, we have to expect the obvious romantic subplot in which she hits puberty and engages in an active dating life. Her father, naturally, has doubts about her new supposedly rebellious boyfriend (Lil' Zane). So we're dragged through that unnecessary subplot, which pretty much serves as filler to complete a running time of 100 minutes.

Lately, Eddie Murphy has been tackling PG projects like this and "Shrek." A few years back, he took a try at cleaning his act when doing a voice-over for Disney's "Mulan." Then again, in the flop "Holy Man." I have to admire him for showing his more sanitized approach to comedy. Despite his inability to use the "f" word, he proves he's still a multi-talented comedian and not a talented comedian whose act is totally watered-down and dull because of being forced to clean up his mouth. Though he pretty much plays the straight man (I also have to admire him for his discipline, in remaining subdued and in character rather than viewing the movie as no more than a showcase for his comedy), he still belts out some witty one-liners and proves to be just as funny as his animal companions.

I don't really have any strong opinions about this movie. It's harmless, but it could've used a major rewrite. It's funny at times, but could've been a lot funnier (and less crude). Don't worry, you won't be seeing any gags involving birds crapping into people's mouths or a thermometer getting stuck into a dog's behind. The film has just enough crudeness to achieve the PG rating, but we still could've done without it. Your kids will be rolling in the aisles, while the adults may want to take a few popcorn and bathroom breaks. Not bad (especially for a sequel), but forgettable and even somewhat dull. You're better off catching this one on video.

My score: 6 (out of 10)

If you like these kind of movies, then its funny. My wife loves these kinds of movie, and enjoyed this. Its amazing how well they can train bears, some of the stunts are incredible. The voice overs couldn't be done better. My opinion of the film is its cute, but not many surprises in this one. I laughed at this film, and comedy is the hardest thing to do, but I did not find this better the average comedy. Its funny, but not p**s your pants funny.

Dr. John Dolittle (Eddie Murphy) is more successful than ever honing in on his new animal communication skills. With his dog Lucky (Norm Macdonald) at his side, he is able to help multitudes of animals. His daughter Charisse Dolittle (Raven-Symoné) is annoyed with him. It's her sweet sixteen and two rats pop out of her cake. To appease her, he promises to take the family on an European vacation away from the animals. He drives to the woods to meet the Godfather beaver. The animals are concerned about encroaching humans and the clear cutting of the forest. He needs an endangered animal to save the forest. Eugene Wilson tells him about unique female bear Ava (Lisa Kudrow) but they need to reintroduce male circus bear Archie (Steve Zahn) into the wild. Oppositing them are lumber company owner Joe Potter (Jeffrey Jones) and his lawyer Riley (Kevin Pollak).

It has some functional kids' movie aspects. The talking animals are funny sometimes although Steve Zahn may not be the best wacky voice actor. There is a lot of low brow humor. It could be good but the situation is too manufactured and the cabin setting is too fake. It has some good laughs but the story gets too tiresome. Kids might like this but even they should be bored by courtroom drama and corporate powerplay.

A few months ago, I saw "Doctor Dolittle" (the 1998 remake) for the first time in years. I liked it when I was twelve years old, so I was curious to know what I would think after growing up, despite having low expectations. My expectations were surpassed slightly, but if I had never seen "Dr. Dolittle 2" before, its predecessor wouldn't have been enough to make me interested in seeing it, but I did see it about four years ago, and enjoyed it. I was seventeen, past this movie's targeted audience, but didn't tend to watch a lot of movies at the time. I just watched this sequel again, and my once again low expectations were not surpassed at all.

Dr. John Dolittle has become famous for his ability to communicate with animals, but lately, he has also been having trouble with his family. One day, he is brought to the forest to see the Godbeaver, and learns that the forest is rapidly being cut down. The animals who live in this forest are counting on Dr. Dolittle to save their habitat, and in order to do so, the doctor must attempt to get a female Pacific Western bear in the forest named Ava together with a male so he can save the species! He gets a male bear of this species named Archie from a circus, and begins his attempt to get him adjusted to life in the wild and teach him how to win Ava's heart, both of which are easier said than done! It doesn't help that Archie has to compete with a Kodiak bear named Sonny, and logging company owner Joe Potter is determined to get his way!

Although I found no huge laughs in "Doctor Dolittle", I did find some minor ones. However, in this sequel, I found none. I smiled at times, but VERY rarely and briefly. Like its predecessor, "Dr. Dolittle 2" contains some juvenile excretion jokes, though it is a TAD cleaner, for better or worse (since it was aimed at kids, many would probably say it's for the better). These jokes are usually lame, if not always, a good example being the scene where Archie has diarrhea. There are also some embarrassing lines in the script, such as the one Dr. Dolittle has, humiliating his daughter, Charisse by telling her boyfriend how she tried to get out of diapers early and made messes around the house. Fortunately, the movie isn't totally filled with these problems, but most of the film is basically average and forgettable in my book.

Both Dr. Dolittle films starring Eddie Murphy are rather cheesy, and would definitely appeal to kids more than anyone else, but this one more so than the original. If you don't like the 1998 film, then you probably wouldn't like this one, either, but if you do, then you STILL might not like this sequel. "Dr. Dolittle 2" may have a slightly better plot than its predecessor, but overall, it is inferior, not that I'm saying the original is really that good. If you ask me, 1998's "Doctor Dolittle" is very close to being strictly for kids, and this sequel is right there. Remembering the film's targeted audience, I guess it deserves some credit, but if you're not part of that audience, and are not a parent of anyone who is, I wouldn't say there's any need to bother. After watching this, I definitely won't be watching the straight-to-video "Dr. Dolittle 3".

Yes, it's full of jokes based on body fluids (both gaseous and liquid), but even those can be funny. Not here. This movie delivered almost no laughs.

The unfunny script offers no relief from the other irritations in "Dr. Doolittle 2": the obnoxious older daughter character and the preponderance of closeups. Seeing what appears to be the cast from "The Cosby Show" on screen so tight that the image cuts off just above the eyebrows and below the chin is not fun and not entertaining.

The script comes off like a sixth grade class's presentation on ecology. Disappointing.

I am pretty surprised at the low scores for this film, as I thought for a family comedy it achieved its goals quite well. Plus, I usually hate these sort of schmaltzy films, and so the fact that I liked it is a bit unusual and says something about it. I think the biggest reason was that they did NOT attempt to recreate the famous Doolittle novels or re-create the Rex Harrison film but boldly took the character in other directions in both Doolittle films. Plus, unlike Murphy's first Doolittle film, this one had a very nice infusion of humor--and I THOUGHT, incorrectly, that I would hate all the talking animal nonsense (just like I hated LOOK WHO'S TALKING). While this little film won't change your life, it's a decent film that won't insult your intelligence and will give you a few good laughs.

Also, while I have seen enough of "That's so Raven" because of my kids, Raven Simone did a lovely job in the film--proving she's not just a cute flash-in-the-pan child actress.

Continuing my plan to watch every Eddie Murphy movie in order, I come to Doctor Doolittle 2 (1998)

Plot In A Paragraph: Doctor Doolittle (Murphy) tries to save a forest.

Like Nutty Professor 2, this is the worst kind of sequel!! It exists just because the first movie made money. Again I watched this with my girlfriends daughter, I don't think many people over the age of 10, will find much to enjoy here, as it is pretty much laugh free, devoid of any original ideas, the animal "lip synching" is awful and like with the Nutty Professor 2, the humour is ruder and cruder!! And sadly Murphy is now the angry out of touch Dad, yelling at his teenage daughter to open her bedroom door. There are no attempts to make any jokes to even amuse, let alone entertain the adults watching this. Shrek was far mor intelligent than this. Murphy is the best thing in this, he is not at his best, but he has a relaxed charm. Sadly it's not enough to save the movie. I spent most of my time playing 'Guess the celebrity voice'

Like with The Nutty Professor sequel, this performed slightly worse than the original, but it was still a decent hit, as Dr Doolittle grossed $112 Million at the domestic box office to end the year the 16th highest grossing movie of 2001. Due to the financial success of both movies, I'm actually surprised there has not been third movies in both cases

"Dr. Dolittle 2" continues the story of Dr. Dolittle (Eddie Murphy), a doctor-gone-veterinarian who can talk to animals. The sequel begins with a raccoon gangster trying to recruit Dr. Dolittle into saving a forest that is going to be taken over by a lumber company. Dr. Doolittle takes the lumber company to court and an agreement is made: if Dr. Dolittle can get the lone Western Pacific bear, Ava, to mate, the forest will be saved under the Endangered Species Act. Comedy and action ensues as Dolittle tries to introduce a circus bear, Archie, into the wild in order to save the forest.

Director Steve Carr's intentions of this movie seems to prove anything can be possible if one puts effort into it. This is shown by Dolittle's attempts to reintroduce a bear which has been raised by humans back into the forest. Another example is when the animals perform various comic scenes of stopping forest destruction (both inside and outside forest), but with the more serious intentions of saving their home in mind. A different perspective from the director is the underlying idea explaining it is important to preserve the forests and their inhabitants. As seen in this movie, many animals, such as the Western Pacific Bear, are becoming extinct.

While this movie had good intentions, in reality it was just a bad movie. The animals were cute, but many of the "comedy" scenes were trying a little too hard to be funny. This movie was supposed to be for kids, but there was a large amount of adult situations in this film. Excluding Eddie Murphy, most of the actors were extremely annoying thanks to corny dialogue and poor character expressions. The only positive about this movie were the themes; a little effort can go a long way and the importance of forest preservation. "Dr. Dolittle 2" is a poor sequel and I would only recommend this movie to someone with a "cheep" sense of humor.

`Dr. Doolittle 2' does have some of the same old doggoned hilarious animal-talking moments as the original. However, the story of this sequel was sometimes so tedious that a few times throughout the movie I wanted to say `bye bye birdie' to this one. Eddie Murphy once again stars as the doctor who can talk to the animals. In this one, Dr. Doolittle must play matchmaker to two bears in order to save an animal habitat from being taken over by developers. Yea! I know ! The plot sounds beary beary boring! I must admit though that is those talking animals that overshadow any plot storyline in this film. If this sounds fishy to you- then check out the italian racoon, the deceiving weasel, the mobster beaver, the drunken monkey, and the mexican iguana. Let's not left the dog out, and remember that `lucky' once again steals the show as the Doolittle's right hand pooch. It might be a `little' uninteresting at times, but i `doo' recommend for you to check this one out! Later gator!!!!!! *** Average

If you love eddie murphy, you will love this movie. Take it for what it is a very funny silly comedy. We laughed and laughed at the adult humor and the pure fun of it. To hell with the critics. If you want a good time for your money, go and see it. It is very very funny.

DR. DOLITTLE 2 / (2001) *** (out of four)

I am often cautious when I walk into a theater to screen a sequel, but even more so when it's the sequel to a family comedy. Family comedies are so lazy these days. Many filmmakers seem to think their target audience isn't analytical, therefore, they do not take the proper precautions. The 1998 hit "Doctor Dolittle" wasn't a great movie, but it was entertaining and amusing. Steve Carr's "Doctor Dolittle 2" is even better. The film works because it doesn't waste time explaining what we already know. It relies on the first film for the character development and circumstances, and also creates a story that stands on its own. The plot drifts a little here and there, but it's new material, not a duplication of "Doctor Dolittle." This is the kind of movie that revives this struggling genre.

Eddie Murphy takes center stage again as Dr. John Dolittle, but he has a more important role in this film. In the original, he was upstaged by the talking animals; he simply reacted to their various crude and witty comments. Here, he's the main focus of the plot, thus, the film provides us with a stronger central character. I like the way the movie gives Dolittle dimension by incorporating his family into the story. We learn more about his wife (Kristen Wilson), and his lovely daughter Charisse (Raven-Symone), who learns of a new ability and forms a love interest with a young man. Some of these family aspects work well, and others fall flat. Charisse's relationship with her father is involving, but the subplot dealing with her boyfriend does not pay off.

John Dolittle is a world-famous veterinarian who can talk with animals. The premise involves Dolittle's attempts to save a forest that is about to be leveled by a powerful forester (Jeffrey Jones). A slick attorney (Kevin Pollak) represents our enemy, while Dolittle recruits his lawyer wife to defend his case in court. Dolittle's only true argument depends on a protected species of bear. Unfortunately, there's only a single female bear who cannot reproduce by herself, so why save her habitat? But wait! There's a circus performer male bear of the same species. Dolittle rushes to persuade the animal to come to the wild and mate with the female bear, but will he want to leave his circus home?

"Doctor Dolittle 2" is not an extremely funny movie; its more amusing than hilarious. A lot of the film's humor comes off as surprisingly dual and annoying. Such humor evolves from a lizard's inability to blend with his environment, a canine's attempts to pick up a wolf, convincing the two bears to mate, and a monkey's drinking problems. These jokes lack the sharp impulse, the zest, the perfect timing, and the wit we encountered in the first film. Until the creative, prosperous final act, "Doctor Dolittle 2" invokes very few laughs.

Eddie Murphy supplies his character with the perfect amount of wit and energy. He is the funniest thing in the movie. The filmmakers decided to tone down some of the crude humor and sexual entendres to warrant the movie family-orientated PG rating. Murphy still takes advantage of the mildly risqué material present, however, as he makes the film more viewable and entertaining. The filmmakers learned from the first film, where Murphy was too passive and reactive. Here, they put him on screen whenever possible, and that's why "Doctor Dolittle 2" is better than the original.

Dr. Dolitle has Murphy back as the doctor who can talk to animals once again comes back, this time he has to help a bear become a, uh, man of a bear in order to save a forest. While the first one had as many fart and poop jokes as this one, it didn't have it's vivacity and it's effect to be funny to both kids and adults. This time, it's strictly for kids and it is below par for Murphy; if you want to see him in an exceptional comedy see Shrek again. Various stars give voices which keep this movie afloat including Steve Zahn, Lisa Kudrow, Isaac Hayes, Kevin Pollack, Cedric the Entertainer, Andy Dick and above all, Norm MacDonald. C+

I mean it wasn't that horrible, but it was pretty bad. I didn't care for the plot. Actually it was pretty funny--this and Nutty Professor are both remakes, both star Eddie Murphy, and both were funny. But more to it, both had pretty mediocre sequels, and both sequels had a very sexually driven plot. But that's not why I hate this movie. There's way too much pop culture, the jokes weren't really funny, and I just couldn't believe how annoying everything about it was. I really wish I could be more in depth, but sorry, I just don't care about this film. It's more like a repressed memory now, and I only commented here because I was trying to find out what the Spanish Orangutan in the first movie was saying. The original Dr Dolittle with the white guy in it was OK, the first Dr Dolittle with Eddie Murphy was hilarious and a very underrated film, but this movie sucks.

Last time I ever walked out of movie disgusted and ashamed of being an American was after watching "Freddy Got Fingered", but at least that movie was trying to be a bottom of the barrel movie. First off, I don't know about you all, but I'm tired of seeing this tired format of "Girl growing up crap". Going out on a date on your birthday. Oh but honey we always have dinner together on your birthday. Puuuleeease. Maybe the rest of the movie became better afterwards, but I'm sorry, not even a "Schindler's List" plot could make up for the rest of the movie. This is one of those type of movies you watch, and when you leave you get pissed at the movie theater employees, even though they relatively had nothing to do with why you're mad. Trust me, save your money and rent a movie.

Long ago, I enjoyed the original "Dr. Dolittle," with Rex Harrison. Eddie Murphy made a remake some years ago, and his version wasn't so bad. Although his version was set in more modern times. For some reason, I can't see Dr. Dolittle outside of the Victorian Era. Yet, Eddie's new take on the man who can talk to animals spawned a sequel. I found Part 2 a bit better than Part 1. The funniest lines come from the animals. But still, this movie wasn't perfect. I think maybe the producers of the movie tried a little too hard, giving it an environmental theme. Eddie Murphy has been an enjoyable comic, but I think he deserved better than this. He doesn't need to be upstaged by flatulent and neurotic animals.

Dr Dolittle 2 follows the life of Dr. John Dolittle who by now is well known for his gift of being able to speak to animals. He is visited by a forest dweller from the pine forests north of San Francisco who are desperate to save their homes from being destroyed by a logging company. To prevent this, the courts give Dr.D. and family one month to re-locate a domesticated circus bear to the forest and have it mate with the last wild female bear of its kind there. It sounds a little risque' but it is okay for all age groups. The animals all have their own persona and their dialogue is very humorous, especially the beaver and his ‘mob'. Worth watching.

Well, the first one did work pretty good, didn't it? This outing of base instinct "cuteness" just did not seem to get rolling. Kids and animals are always pleasant, but there has to be a reason to root/hate for at least someone. I did not find myself in love or angry at any of the characters, or even the situations in DR2. Even EM did not seem to have his heart in this one. At least it is not an offensive movie and does provide a few laughs. But Pleeeease....no more! SteveL99

A couple of nights ago, I rented two movies at my local Blockbuster Video out of curiosity. Being someone who loves animals, I rented "Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls" and "Dr. Dolittle 2" just for the heck of it (the former because I think Jim Carrey is hilarious but had avoided that particular title out of fear of it being a disappointment, the latter because I was interested in seeing the talking animal effects). After loving the first title far better than expected, I had the pleasure of writing it up with compliments here for other IMDb readers.

"Dr. Dolittle 2", however, was a flop for me.

Now, I do have to admit that I was basically prepared to be disappointed for this one the same way I was with "When Nature Calls". I grew up with the beloved original "Dr. Dolittle" movie starring the talented Rex Harrison and adored the original books. I was absolutely convinced that this movie would be a dumb attempt to cash in on the original and make it "marketable" and "hip" in that lousy, gross-out way that only Hollywood marketing executives can when digging for dollars. But I watched it anyway, hoping that I could at least enjoy the talking animals, and I would have been spared a lot of headaches if only someone had been around to talk me out of this temporary lapse of better judgement.

Let me start by saying that this movie has nothing to do with the original concept. Nothing. The animals talk and the main character has a famous name along with the ability to understand them, and it's there that any similarities end.

How bad was this film? Let me put it this way: it was a heap worse than I had anticipated, so much so that I shut it off two-thirds of the way in. It was simply too much of an embarrassment, and I found myself plotting to return it in the middle of the night after work when Blockbuster would be closed so no one would see me carrying it!

The absolute worst problem with this film has to do with Eddie Murphy himself--a strong reminder of why he didn't have a hit film for something going on a decade. Simply put, he isn't likeable: he plays this role the precise same way he has played nearly all of his roles, as an obnoxious "Why do I have to be stuck in this position, I wish I was doing something else better with my time" jerk who merely puts up with his dilemma. He also seems so ANNOYED in most of his movies.

In the grossly overrated "Beverly Hills Cop" films, he was an annoyed cop who had to have everything his own way. In "The Golden Child", he was an annoyed locator of missing children who put up with his job as well as his mission simply because he was stuck with it. Except for the occasional "Mulan" (the only performance of his I liked, by the way), he always whines, snarls, screams, curses and is generally pessimistic. And in this film, he is annoyed at the mere idea of being the world's most unique animal doctor.

Eddie Murphy has managed to accomplish the impossible here--he has actually managed to make the idea of being able to talk to animals into a thoroughly unenjoyable and miserable routine. Simply put, he takes all the fun out of such a concept.

What child HASN'T wanted to talk to animals? It was the one thing I wished I could do for as long as I could remember. If given the choice of any one magical ability (even if I were to include the ability to fly in a would-be list to choose from), it would easily be being able to converse with animals. But here, you get the impression that God simply plopped this amazing talent on precisely the wrong individual. Murphy doesn't even seem to genuinely *care* about animals--it's all an "Okay, okay, I'll do it, but only because I feel like I have to and not because I have any heart for it" sort of arrangement for him. All the while, what with that expression on his face, you keep expecting him to mutter, "God, why ME? This is such a pain in the NECK!!!" And in this attitude while conversing with the various animals on screen, he does everything except slap them with his "I'm always right, so you'd better listen to me" sharpness.

There is something seriously wrong with a script when Dr. Dolittle is overly annoyed in dealing with, much more so being the only person on the planet able to talk to, animals.

Here's my say: if this material had to be remade at all, it should have at least been given to a comedian who could have worked wonders with its concept and genuinely enjoyed it. Imagine Robin Williams, or Steve Martin, or (you guessed it) even Carrey himself portraying this role. Heck, even the late John Candy. Any of them as well as dozens of others could have made this work because they have something which Murphy has always lacked--a sense of lightheartedness and joy when given the opportunity to work with fantastical and outlandish material.

Watching this dreck, though, I seriously get the impression that Eddie Murphy picked the project simply because he knows he had nearly killed his own career with portraying annoyingly selfish, self-centered bores and wanted to do something to change his image into something lighter in an attempt to save it. Or at least his agent did. Whatever. All I have to say is--Eddie, if you want to convince us you can do something fun then you need to lighten yourself up first. Talking animal effects and potty humour do no automatically make you a whiz at family entertainment. Basically, you're just doing your same old "Beverly Hills Cop personality" routine with gimmicky windowdressing, and it doesn't work.

But such a long review on my behalf was far better than this film deserves. If it weren't for the fact that I wanted to share my feelings on it with others, I would have otherwise simply written one line here: "I'll pass on this movie."

The day I first saw this, I was with a friend of mine, and in my opinion, DR. DOLITTLE 2 is a very hilarious and fresh movie. One of the quotes that made me laugh the most was, "Bring me a bone!" Another was, "And flies! Supersize!" Oh, man! Those quotes were really funny! Another funny part was when Lucky (Norm Macdonald) made John (Eddie Murphy) beg when he came back to the house to get his keys when he forgot them. There were lots of other parts that made me laugh, too. In conclusion, if you liked DOCTOR DOLITTLE or are a fan of Eddie Murphy, I highly recommend this film! You're in for a lot of laughs, or your money back.

This movie is considerably better than the first one. I enjoyed most of the movie. The language was greatly toned down and the sutuations were much more real. His personal life isn't a spoof or a side show there are real people there, and that's nice. On the negative side: They still feel the need to beat you over the head with over the top bathroom humor that in my opinion could have been left out. On the bright side the lizard is a cute comic all the way through the movie.

A little slow on the take-off, a lot slower through the middle, and if it was not for the cute talking animals it would have been totally stopped before the predictable ending came through.

Eddie Murphy's character of John Dolittle comes off as a cross between Dr. Dolittle (the Rex Harrison version), Dr. Ben Casey and Jimmy Hoffa (not the Jack Nicholson version either). At first look, he seems to have a difficult time deciding whether he is a Medical Doctor of Humans or a Dr. Ruth for the animal world. Next, he is in the forest "organizing" the animals into a world-wide "wildcat strike" (pun intended).

The film contains a predictable plot line, with some notable laughs along the way that are too far apart to save it. Several unexplained sub-plots detract from what enjoyable entertainment there is to derive from the main plot.

Don't even bother with it on Pay-Per-View, wait for the release of the DVD or Video – or better yet, wait for it on network TV when its free. It won't take that long for it to make the transition and you won't miss the portions they cut out for the commercials.