Dr. Dolittle Million Dollar Mutts (Blu-ray)

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I could swear the Dolittle family was bigger than just Maya (Kyla Pratt) and mother Lisa (Karen Holness). I´m pretty sure the main character from the series, Dr. Dolittle is completely absent as well as older sibling Charisse. However, I completely ignored watching the second sequel in the series, "Dr. Dolittle 3" and perhaps that film explained where the father and older sister are. I can understand that Eddie Murphy did not want a part in the film and I suppose you could explain that Charisse is off at school somewhere, but this fifth film completely ignores much that they existed except to make mention of the Dolittle name and suggest that Murphy´s character is well known for his ability to heal animals. "Dr. Dolittle: Million Dollar Mutts is the second direct-to-video sequel after last year´s "Dr. Dolittle: Tail to the Chief" with Pratt continuing as the only star to be in all five films and Holness in her second performance as the Dolittle matriarch.

In this horrid film, Maya has decided that she wants to follow in her father´s footsteps and use the family gift of being able to talk to animals and attend San Francisco University. She is quickly turned off by the school because it will take her roughly seven years to become a vet and she will not see a single live animal during the first four years. Maya´s best friend is the family dog Lucky and Monkey, which is a monkey that prefers to be called ´Primate´ but resumes calling himself ´Monkey´ through the entire film. Maya´s fortunes turn when she rescues a cat from a tree and the old lady who mentions that the cat ´has the reflexes of a cat´ has Maya´s deed come to national attention. This sends Paris Hilton parody Tiffany Monaco (Tegan Moss) to meet Maya and ask her to travel to Hollywood to help her dog Princess over whatever problems the dog has.

It turns out that Princess is actually a boy and wants to be called Rocko, but Maya´s good deed is noticed and producer Rick Beverley (Jason Bryden) decides that Maya and Tiffany should have their own television show called "Animal Talkers" to capitalize on her unique talent to talk to animals. To get backing to start the show Maya and Tiffany travel through Hollywood to help other celebrities´ animals out. Maya meets actor Brandon (Brandon Jay McLaren) and is romantically interested in him, while Lucky enjoys the company of Brandon´s dog Emmy. The celebrities they help include rapper Ridiculuz (Doron Bell) and his pet rabbit who hates rap music, as well as a mini race car driving frog. Ridiculuz is ridiculous the moment he declares that the rabbit is the ´wind beneath his wings.´

Eventually Emmy the dog becomes sick and Maya realizes she needs the medical training to help animals the way she wants. Her show turns out to be a fashion show and this is a farce and has nothing to do with helping animals. Judge Reinhold has a quick cameo as a studio executive and I long for the days when he was a character named Billy in another Eddie Murphy franchise. Rick turns out to be a jerk and Tiffany realizes she finally has a real friend and not just somebody to help her through photo shoots. The eighty six minute film ends about eighty five minutes longer than it should and "Dr. Dolittle: Million Dollar Mutts" is hopefully the final attempt at capitalizing on the name of the first successful film with Murphy and somebody realizes that poor Kyla Pratt needs more than CGI enhanced talking animals around her. Instead of a sixth film in this series, she would be better off making "Hotel for Dogs 2."

This is simply a bad film and they are beating a dead horse with the fifth "Dr. Dolittle" picture and the second direct-to-video feature starring only Kyla Pratt. I know that talking animals are cute and kids love them, but there comes a time when everything becomes a little tiring and the "Dr. Dolittle" franchise needs put to sleep. The writing is horrendous and the parodies of actual stars are laughable. Did we really a poor Paris Hilton knock off who calls herself the "Heiress´ Heiress"? I´m pretty sure we didn´t. Young Kyla and Tegan work hard to come across serious, but these young actresses can´t do much with the script they are provided with. There really is nothing to like in this film and I couldn´t wait for it to end after just a couple minutes.