I wasn't expecting anything extraordinary when entering the theater to see "Snow Dogs." Anyone who has seen "The Princess Diaries," "Operation Dumbo Drop" and "Jungle 2 Jungle" should know by now--Disney usually sucks at making comedies! There are few exceptions like "The Santa Clause" and the underrated remake of "That Darn Cat," but that's not gonna change my opinion of Disney altogether. The producers of Disney should really stick to animation. That's what they're good at.
One slight motivation for seeing this movie was Cuba Gooding, Jr. But though he's a terrific actor, even he could make a clunker--has anyone seen "Chill Factor"? It happens to the greatest of actors. Every once in a while a great actor wants to take a recess from serious drama and do either a broad comedy or a B-grade action flick. Cuba has done both. Serious actors always want to show their audiences that they CAN loosen up and they CAN be goofy and uninhibited when they want to be.
As expected, the humor in this movie is totally lame and utterly predictable. Gooding hams it up to the extreme in his most over-the-top performance up-to-date, but there really is no other way to perform this sort of comedy. Let me see: Cuba's (character) never mushed a team of sled dogs before, living in Miami all his life. Are we supposed to find it hilarious when he gets dragged across the snow by the dogs over and over again? Geez, we didn't expect that to happen! In the back of the theater, a kid--probably five or six years old--kept laughing hysterically whenever that would happen, but that's the point. If you're over the age of 6--this is not funny!
There are assorted gags here and there that worked. For example, we find out that Cuba's father is actually the big, brawny, white sled team owner who people steer away from whenever he approaches and is nicknamed Thunder Jack (James Coburn). In one scene, Cuba spots him in a store and tells the clerk, "He's my Dad. Don't you see the resemblance?" The chemistry between Gooding and Coburn is wonderful. And in another scene, Cuba is feeding the dogs a mish-mash of all sorts of organs from different animals called "slump." He comments, "In Miami, we call this hot dogs."
"Snow Dogs" is not painstaking to watch and is somewhat harmless, but it's entirely lame and predictable. The kind of film you watch and say, "Why even bother?" If there's anything the movie is notable for, it's the first film to feature a cameo by Michael Bolton. What happened? Vanilla Ice's phone was busy?
I have to say, that Alaskan woman who plays Gooding's love interest is completely hot! God, she's a fox! So guys, if you do have to sit through this movie--especially you fathers out there--at least you have some great eye candy!
My score: 5 (out of 10)
One slight motivation for seeing this movie was Cuba Gooding, Jr. But though he's a terrific actor, even he could make a clunker--has anyone seen "Chill Factor"? It happens to the greatest of actors. Every once in a while a great actor wants to take a recess from serious drama and do either a broad comedy or a B-grade action flick. Cuba has done both. Serious actors always want to show their audiences that they CAN loosen up and they CAN be goofy and uninhibited when they want to be.
As expected, the humor in this movie is totally lame and utterly predictable. Gooding hams it up to the extreme in his most over-the-top performance up-to-date, but there really is no other way to perform this sort of comedy. Let me see: Cuba's (character) never mushed a team of sled dogs before, living in Miami all his life. Are we supposed to find it hilarious when he gets dragged across the snow by the dogs over and over again? Geez, we didn't expect that to happen! In the back of the theater, a kid--probably five or six years old--kept laughing hysterically whenever that would happen, but that's the point. If you're over the age of 6--this is not funny!
There are assorted gags here and there that worked. For example, we find out that Cuba's father is actually the big, brawny, white sled team owner who people steer away from whenever he approaches and is nicknamed Thunder Jack (James Coburn). In one scene, Cuba spots him in a store and tells the clerk, "He's my Dad. Don't you see the resemblance?" The chemistry between Gooding and Coburn is wonderful. And in another scene, Cuba is feeding the dogs a mish-mash of all sorts of organs from different animals called "slump." He comments, "In Miami, we call this hot dogs."
"Snow Dogs" is not painstaking to watch and is somewhat harmless, but it's entirely lame and predictable. The kind of film you watch and say, "Why even bother?" If there's anything the movie is notable for, it's the first film to feature a cameo by Michael Bolton. What happened? Vanilla Ice's phone was busy?
I have to say, that Alaskan woman who plays Gooding's love interest is completely hot! God, she's a fox! So guys, if you do have to sit through this movie--especially you fathers out there--at least you have some great eye candy!
My score: 5 (out of 10)