Doogal

After coming fresh off of a pretty good movie with Hoodwinked, something fell totally apart when it came to this movie. This is the first movie in a LONG time where I was constantly checking my watch to see if it was almost over. And at a short 85 minutes, that is pretty sad.

Let me say a couple good things about the movie. The pre-movie cartoon was really funny. The animation kept the cute, and simplistic CGI style found in Hoodwinked.

Unfortunately, there was a lot of bad parts to the movie. The thing that bothered me the most were the number of puns and pop references. I think it is good when they are used, but they went overboard. They didn't always even fit in with the situation. I would have to say, they were almost forced. Then the references would be above most of the 'target' audience. Another problem is that I don't care much for 'fart' jokes. Unfortunately, about the only time I really heard any laughter from the kids in the audience was when a flatulent character was on screen. Even the story was pretty weak.

It was a shame considering that this movie had such a great cast. But I would have to recommend avoiding this movie unless there is absolutely nothing left to watch that you can take a kid to.

Now, let me start by saying I normally enjoy animated movies. They're refreshing, fun and a nice change of pace from the drugs/sex/violence/vulgarity of the majority of movies out there. Don't get me wrong, I like those things in movies, as well but sometimes you need a break from that.

With that said, Doogal was terrible. I didn't even know who to root for in this sorry excuse for animated fun. Lots of stars in the cast, so you'd think they'd put more into the writing. They re-used several jokes, many fart/burp jokes which even kids tire of. I didn't care about any of the characters and couldn't even tell why I should be cheering for the good/evil! It was nice to, like I said, watch something pure and non-offensive. But people making animated movies these days pay all their attention to graphics and smooth scene transition than they do to story lines and this movie was the perfect example. However, even THAT didn't work in this movie. The graphics seemed choppy and forced, almost as though I was "watching" a video game.

I'm no kid, so I can't really tell if a kid would enjoy this movie or not, but I'm assuming even the smartest of kids between the ages of 2-10 would be yawning half way through asking if it was almost over yet.

Looking for some good recent animation? Stay away from this one. Hoodwinked, Wallace & Gromit, etc. at least make an attempt at decent jokes and clever characters. Doogal was a distraction at best.

I have been seeing films in theaters for over 50 years and this is only the second time I actually walked out during the movie. I am a big fan of quality animated films, from the early Disney up to the more recent Ice Age, Hoodwinked, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, etc., and the wonderful Miyazaki films. I thought, with this cast it has to be good. I mean it has Dame Judy Dench, William H. Macy, Whoopie Goldberg. All actors I greatly admire. Unfortunately, the film has absolutely no redeeming qualities whatsoever. There is no humor, adventure, interesting characters or anything else that would keep one interested. I kept saying to myself, it has to get better, but it never did. I finally had enough and walked out. I was not the only one to do so.

Rip-off plot was not funny at all. The dog was completely selfish and unlikeable. The voices(including the English ones left in the film after the dubbing) have no inflection and tone. The talent of Whoopi Goldberg was completely wasted on this "dog" of a movie. You know that the movie is bad when as an adult the only thing mildly amusing is a moose passing gas. There is no fun in this movie, my kids (age 4 and 7) were bored and they are not picky. Valient was a five star masterpiece compared to this schlock. It was an hour and a half of my life I will never get back! I will not go to another Weinstein animated film unless it has topped the charts for weeks - this is not even straight to video quality. Do not waste your hard earned money on this. Even if the kids are dying to see it, wait until it hits video stores next week and put it on while you are vacuuming.

I've found that attending movies with my kids is almost always great fun. Movies that I wouldn't be caught dead watching otherwise are somehow not so bad when the kids are there. In one case, a movie I had seen by myself and been completely bored was actually a lot of my fun watching with my 7 yr old son later.

Doogal has no redeeming value whatsoever. The celebrity voices provide zero added value - Jon Stewart is at best, OK. The rest are definite negatives which I have never seen before. The plot is transparently thin, the characters are extremely weak, and not a single laugh out loud in the entire theater, although it was almost empty on the second day.

Not even a DVD rental. KEEP AWAY!