Review: BEVERLY HILLS CHIHUAHUA
I finally saw Walt Disney Pictures' Beverly Hills Chihuahua on Sunday afternoon! As expected, I enjoyed the film immensely! Better than even I expected!
But first, something that's been on my mind . . .
At this writing, the film has been # 1 at the box office for the second time in a row! That said, I just don't understand the public's absolute meanspirited hatred for this film. It's total madness. Some think a movie about talking dogs is ridiculous and unbelievable, others hate Chihuahuas (either because they're small, or wimpy, or creepy or some such crap), others fear that it will encourage people to buy dogs and treat them as Paris Hilton would, others call out the corporatism of the film ("People who see this movie are stupid corporate lemmings!"), others say it's because of Mexican stereotypes (which I'll go into later), and some even go as far as to suggest some asinine political conspiracy theory behind this movie's success (relating to the current Presidential Elections and Fiscal Crisis)! Geez, lighten up! It's tops at the box office for good reasons (at least to me):
Okay, I'm cool. Now, back to the review.
It's no secret that I'm a dog lover, and I especially love Chihuahuas. I adored the film's teaser trailer (with all the dancing & singing Chihuahuas), and couldn't wait to see the film itself. There is plenty of adorable doggie cuteness throughout the whole movie, and all the dogs definitely take center stage over their human counterparts, who themselves are not half-bad! Plus, the movie has a surprisingly strong sublpot!
The movie's about a pampered female Chihuahua named Chloe (voiced by Drew Barrymore), who belongs to a wealthy cosmetics lady named Viv (Jamie Lee Curtis), who lives in Beverly Hills. She's off to have a vacation, and entrusts her with her high-strung niece, Rachel (Piper Perabo), who finds taking care of the dog a chore. Chloe is the object of affection of a male Chihuahua named Papi (voiced by George Lopez), who's owned by Viv's handsome young Latino gardener, Sam (played by Manolo Cardona). But even though Chloe doesn't mind his company, she blows him off romantically. Eventually, Rachel secretly goes with her friends to Mexico, and takes Chloe with her. Of course, Rachel gets careless, and Chloe runs off into Mexican civilization. Chaos ensues! Along the way, she meets a rugged German Shepherd named Delgado (voiced by Andy Garcia), whose arch-nemesis is a ferocious evil Doberman named Diablo (voiced by Edward James Olmos), who's owned by ruthless dognappers (who promote dog fights). When Rachel panics, she gets the help of Sam, Papi, and the Mexican police to find Chloe, before the dognappers get her for ransom. There's also an Aztec desert inhabited by a Chihuahua race led by Montezuma (voiced by Placido Domingo), which is one of my favorite moments in the film!
As some of you know, I'm part Puerto Rican, and was not offended by any Latino stereotypes the movie had. While there is Mexican stereotyping, it's not incredibly extreme, and only apparent with the more comical characters (including a rat voiced by Cheech Marin, who also voiced an animated Chihuahua in an older Disney production, Oliver & Company, just 20 years ago). There's plenty of positive portrayals of Mexicans to be found (especially Sam). Besides, there's also negative stereotypes of ritzy Beverly Hills people (especially Rachel), to keep things balanced.
The locales in Mexico are all-around beautiful. The CGI talking animal effects/expressions, done by Cinesite (which also did Underdog), are great, naturally. Besides the usual one-liners and witty, even risque humor, there's surprisingly little-to-no potty humor (which Disney films of this type have had in spades)! Guess the writers finally had some taste. The soundtrack fits the film quite nicely (and yes, there are two versions of the "Chihuahua" song, especially the one from the teaser trailer!).
After the trailers for other films, the film was preceded by a sneak-preview of their upcoming animated film, Bolt (loosely based upon Chris Sanders' American Dog, before he was fired from the project). It doesn't look too bad, but it'll be along the lines of their other non-Pixar CGI films. I did buy the Golden Book storybook for the film (which looks even better)!
Unless you hate dogs or Chihuahuas (or talking dog movies in general), I highly recommend seeing Beverly Hills Chihuahua. You may not get a perfect film, but you'd be surprised that it's not all that bad.
But first, something that's been on my mind . . .
At this writing, the film has been # 1 at the box office for the second time in a row! That said, I just don't understand the public's absolute meanspirited hatred for this film. It's total madness. Some think a movie about talking dogs is ridiculous and unbelievable, others hate Chihuahuas (either because they're small, or wimpy, or creepy or some such crap), others fear that it will encourage people to buy dogs and treat them as Paris Hilton would, others call out the corporatism of the film ("People who see this movie are stupid corporate lemmings!"), others say it's because of Mexican stereotypes (which I'll go into later), and some even go as far as to suggest some asinine political conspiracy theory behind this movie's success (relating to the current Presidential Elections and Fiscal Crisis)! Geez, lighten up! It's tops at the box office for good reasons (at least to me):
- It's a PG-rated family film. (Yeah, just watch people throw this argument back at me. But it's true!)
- People LOVE cute dogs, especially Chihuahuas!
- It's pure escapist fun, compared to the rest of the real-world hysteria that's going on (especially with other films reflecting it).
Okay, I'm cool. Now, back to the review.
It's no secret that I'm a dog lover, and I especially love Chihuahuas. I adored the film's teaser trailer (with all the dancing & singing Chihuahuas), and couldn't wait to see the film itself. There is plenty of adorable doggie cuteness throughout the whole movie, and all the dogs definitely take center stage over their human counterparts, who themselves are not half-bad! Plus, the movie has a surprisingly strong sublpot!
The movie's about a pampered female Chihuahua named Chloe (voiced by Drew Barrymore), who belongs to a wealthy cosmetics lady named Viv (Jamie Lee Curtis), who lives in Beverly Hills. She's off to have a vacation, and entrusts her with her high-strung niece, Rachel (Piper Perabo), who finds taking care of the dog a chore. Chloe is the object of affection of a male Chihuahua named Papi (voiced by George Lopez), who's owned by Viv's handsome young Latino gardener, Sam (played by Manolo Cardona). But even though Chloe doesn't mind his company, she blows him off romantically. Eventually, Rachel secretly goes with her friends to Mexico, and takes Chloe with her. Of course, Rachel gets careless, and Chloe runs off into Mexican civilization. Chaos ensues! Along the way, she meets a rugged German Shepherd named Delgado (voiced by Andy Garcia), whose arch-nemesis is a ferocious evil Doberman named Diablo (voiced by Edward James Olmos), who's owned by ruthless dognappers (who promote dog fights). When Rachel panics, she gets the help of Sam, Papi, and the Mexican police to find Chloe, before the dognappers get her for ransom. There's also an Aztec desert inhabited by a Chihuahua race led by Montezuma (voiced by Placido Domingo), which is one of my favorite moments in the film!
As some of you know, I'm part Puerto Rican, and was not offended by any Latino stereotypes the movie had. While there is Mexican stereotyping, it's not incredibly extreme, and only apparent with the more comical characters (including a rat voiced by Cheech Marin, who also voiced an animated Chihuahua in an older Disney production, Oliver & Company, just 20 years ago). There's plenty of positive portrayals of Mexicans to be found (especially Sam). Besides, there's also negative stereotypes of ritzy Beverly Hills people (especially Rachel), to keep things balanced.
The locales in Mexico are all-around beautiful. The CGI talking animal effects/expressions, done by Cinesite (which also did Underdog), are great, naturally. Besides the usual one-liners and witty, even risque humor, there's surprisingly little-to-no potty humor (which Disney films of this type have had in spades)! Guess the writers finally had some taste. The soundtrack fits the film quite nicely (and yes, there are two versions of the "Chihuahua" song, especially the one from the teaser trailer!).
After the trailers for other films, the film was preceded by a sneak-preview of their upcoming animated film, Bolt (loosely based upon Chris Sanders' American Dog, before he was fired from the project). It doesn't look too bad, but it'll be along the lines of their other non-Pixar CGI films. I did buy the Golden Book storybook for the film (which looks even better)!
Unless you hate dogs or Chihuahuas (or talking dog movies in general), I highly recommend seeing Beverly Hills Chihuahua. You may not get a perfect film, but you'd be surprised that it's not all that bad.