Movies about our canine friends usually entertain me right along with their young target audience. Sadly, although Underdog features some amusing antics by  a very cute Beagle in the title role, it’s not quite the treat I expected. A couple of serious casting problems and a bordering-on-dull plot combine to keep this live-action film version of the classic cartoon on a very tight leash -- at least for most viewers over the age of ten.

Still, the youngest kiddies will probably get a big kick out of watching a dog named Shoeshine (voiced to perfection by Jason Lee) become a superhero who flies through the air, stunning everyone with his daring rescues. And they’ll laugh as Shoeshine tries on various superhero costumes before deciding on his colorful “Underdog” outfit. Even my husband and I couldn't help chuckling when Underdog considered so many ridiculous rhyming statements before selecting his “Never fear. Underdog is here!”slogan.              

How did Shoeshine become Underdog? Same ol’ superhero story, of course. Humiliated after a mistake during an important police assignment, the frustrated animal leaves the scene, only to be captured by the sidekick (Patrick Warburton) of mad scientist Dr. Simon Barsinister (Peter Dinklage). As the two villains attempt to experiment on our soon-to-be hero, the dog is exposed to mysterious elements that change him into a canine with immense strength and unusual powers. He can talk. He can fly. And, luckily, he can escape the clutches of his two captors.

However, while running away, the transformed Beagle gets hit by a car belonging to widower Dan Unger (James Belushi), who takes him home as a pet for his slacker teenage son Jack (Alex Neuberger). This somewhat estranged father and son name their new buddy Shoeshine because he likes to lick shoes. When Jack discovers the truth about Shoeshine, he tries to keep this secret while helping Underdog foil the dastardly plans of Dr. Barsinister. Chaotic special effects ensue.

Dinklage (The Station Agent) endows the villainous Dr. Barsinister with the outrageous comic evil we demand in movies like this, but Belushi (TV’s According to Jim) and Neuberger (Running Scared) deliver bland performances that fail to match the incredibly sensitive acting of Bruce Greenwood and Josh Hutcherson as father and son in Firehouse Dog, a similar -- but much better -- family movie.              

In fact, there’s not much new to see here, folks. Less borrowing from other films like Spider-Man, Superman, Lady and the Tramp and especially Firehouse Dog would have made this movie more appealing to me. But not to worry, parents. The tiny tots sitting next to me at the screening I attended seemed to love it -- and that small, extremely photogenic Beagle is just so darn cute!  

"What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight. What counts is the size of the fight in the dog." -- Mark Twain

(Released by Walt Disney Pictures and rated “PG” for rude humor, mild language and action.)