Dolittle – kids’ review! 4 stars☆☆☆☆☆

I was only bored a tiny, tiny bit when I went to see Dolittle with my mum, and the time went quite quickly.

I thought the film was very funny, especially when Plimpton (Kumail Nanjiani), an ostrich, is upset and says his dad was right, and he should have been an omelette. His frenemy, Yoshi the polar bear (John Cena), tells Plimpton that his own dad went out for a packet of seals one night and never came back.

Lots of the animals have problems. Chee-Chee the gorilla (Rami Malek) has to face his fears. But with Dr Dolittle they learn to become friends.

The film is about a doctor (Robert Downey Jnr) that can talk to animals, and lives with them in a mansion on a big estate. His wife Lily was an adventurer who died at sea in a shipwreck, and he feels guilty because he stayed at home to look after the animals.

Since Lily died he’s been hiding out at home and has grown a really long beard. It’s so long, a mouse lives in it and no one realises.

The mansion was given to them by Queen Victoria, but if she dies they will all have to leave.

One day a boy called Stubbins (Harry Collett) is out shooting with his uncle – he doesn’t like killing things so he tries to miss, but accidentally hits a squirrel called Kevin who he takes to Dr Dolittle to be saved. Stubbins gets caught in a trap, but is rescued by a girl called Lady Rose (Carmel Laniado) who is there because the queen is very ill and they don’t know why.

Dr Dolittle discovers she’s been poisoned and there is only one antidote, on an undiscovered island. So he, Stubbins and the animals set sail to find it. The queen’s doctor, Mudfly (Michael Sheen), hates Dolittle, and is sent off by Lord Badgley (Jim Broadbent) to make sure Dolittle fails in his quest, because Lord Badgley wants to be king.

I thought the story was quite exciting and pretty easy to understand. I always knew what was going on. Dr Mudfly is a good villain.

The animals are very realistic, my favourite was Poly the parrot who speaks very good English. Kevin the squirrel (Craig Robinson) made me laugh but was also quite annoying. Barry the tiger (Ralph Fiennes) is angry with Dolittle because when Dolittle was treating him in the past, he abandoned him. Barry already had problems because his mum thought he was never good enough.

I liked how the animals could listen in to the humans without anyone knowing. Dr Dolittle leaves a stick insect behind in the Queen’s bedroom when he goes on his adventure, to find out what’s happening.

The actress who plays Queen Victoria must have had the best time ever. All she had to do was lie in a big bed pretending to be asleep. And she got paid!

When they’re trying to find the island they keep having to escape from Dr Mudfly. When they get there they find a dragon who is dangerous but it turns out she is emotionally hurt. Dolittle thinks he can make her better, and the way he does this is pretty funny but not hilarious.

There’s a mid-credits scene with some menacing bats. 

Read my mum’s 3-star review.

Watch the Dolittle trailer: