Dolittle

Robert Downey Jr. takes on the role of Hugh Lofting's kiddy book series hero, a veterinarian who can "walk with the animals, talk with the animals, grunt and squeak and squawk with the animals." This one isn't as over-the-top bombastic as Disney's recent attempts to live-actionize old fairy tales (Oz the Great and Powerful, Maleficent). But it still allows Hollywood to do what it does best--cast random stars as the voices of animated animals (in this case, it's Emma Thompson, Rami Malek, John Cena, Tom Holland, Kumail Nanjiani and Octavia Spencer). It's a genial enough family film, but there's not a lot of effort evident in the plot, characters or jokes. FULL REVIEW: Newest version of animal-filled fable does a little by Devin D. O’Leary (1/16/2020). 111 minutes PG.