🐶 Underdog (2007)

“There’s no need to fear—campy Disney is here.”


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🎬 Here’s the Opening, enjoy the opening.

Before we even dig in, let’s set the stage. The movie opens with a cop dog gone wrong, a washout who suddenly finds himself injected with strange chemicals that turn him into… well, you guessed it… a superhero pup in a cape. From that moment, you know exactly what kind of film you’re watching: one part camp, one part Saturday morning cartoon energy, and one part “what on earth were the filmmakers smoking when they cast Peter Dinklage as a deformed villain scientist?”

This movie is not perfect. Not even close. But that’s kind of why I love it. It’s goofy, it’s weird, and it never really pretends to be anything other than a talking-dog superhero comedy.


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🌟 Non-Spoiler Thoughts

Underdog is one of those films that critics tore apart, parents rolled their eyes at, but kids like me latched onto because it was unapologetically fun. It’s based (loosely) on the 1960s cartoon of the same name, but this Disney version dials the cheese factor up to eleven.

The CGI dog mouths are janky. The story is predictable. The villain plot is absurd. And yet? It works as a “turn your brain off and enjoy the ride” kind of movie. It’s the definition of a comfort film — a movie that, if you saw it as a kid, probably stuck with you just for how delightfully silly it was.


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🎭 Characters & Cast

Shoeshine / Underdog (voiced by Jason Lee): Our main hero. Jason Lee brings the same sarcastic charm he had in Alvin and the Chipmunks, except here it’s channeled into a beagle in a cape. Campy? Yes. Entertaining? Also yes.

Dan Unger (Jim Belushi): The cop-turned-dad who takes Shoeshine in. Belushi is basically doing his usual “gruff but lovable” routine, and it works for the family-dad energy.

Jack Unger (Alex Neuberger): The teenage boy who bonds with Shoeshine. He’s kind of the “generic Disney Channel kid,” but he provides the human connection to the superhero dog.

Polly Purebred (voiced by Amy Adams — yes, that Amy Adams): Yup. Lois Lane herself once voiced a talking spaniel love interest for a superhero dog. If that doesn’t scream “2007 Disney weirdness,” I don’t know what does.

Simon Barsinister (Peter Dinklage): Oh boy. Oh boy. What a casting choice. Peter Dinklage hams it up to the extreme here as a deformed mad scientist obsessed with world domination. They even gave him prosthetics to make him look more cartoonishly lopsided, which in hindsight feels… questionable at best. But Dinklage commits so hard that it’s weirdly entertaining.

Cad (Patrick Warburton): Barsinister’s dim-witted henchman. Patrick Warburton (aka Kronk from The Emperor’s New Groove) steals every scene he’s in. He’s the perfect mix of intimidating and stupid, which is exactly what this movie needed.



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👍 What Works / 👎 What Doesn’t

What Works:

Jason Lee’s voice work is surprisingly solid.

Patrick Warburton’s comedic timing — gold.

The movie leans into its camp instead of pretending to be serious.

It’s genuinely fun for kids and nostalgic for those of us who grew up with it.


What Doesn’t:

The CGI is… rough. Like “PS2 cutscene” rough.

The script feels like it was written in one weekend.

Some character choices (Dinklage’s deformity, Amy Adams voicing a cartoon dog) are just bizarre.

Adults will roll their eyes at least five times.



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💭 Final Thoughts

Look, Underdog is not high cinema. It’s not even mid cinema. But what it is, is pure nostalgic camp wrapped in a superhero dog cape. I loved it as a kid, and I still love it now — not because it’s perfect, but because it never pretends to be. It’s dumb, it’s silly, and it’s 100% fun if you embrace it for what it is.

⭐ Rating: 9/10

Nostalgia goggles? Maybe. But this movie has always been a favorite of mine.

🚨 Spoilers Ahead! 🚨

The film kicks off with Shoeshine, a failed bomb-sniffing dog who gets rejected from the police force. After a run-in with Barsinister, he ends up exposed to some weird glowing chemicals in the lab. Instead of dying (like science probably would’ve dictated), he gains superpowers: strength, flight, and yes… the ability to talk.

Shoeshine gets taken in by Dan Unger and his son Jack, where he bonds with the family while secretly becoming the city’s superhero. Cue training montages of a dog in a cape zooming across the city and saving people in ridiculous situations — including stopping muggers, rescuing people from fires, and swooping in like an actual canine Superman.

Meanwhile, Barsinister and Cad scheme to take control of the city. Dinklage chews every single line with cartoonish menace. His deformity is treated almost like a character trait, which… yeah, aged about as well as milk. But he’s such a hammy villain that you can’t look away.

Polly Purebred enters as the “dog love interest,” voiced by Amy Adams. Shoeshine tries to impress her with his powers, which leads to some of the cheesiest lines in the whole film.

🐾 The Third Act

Barsinister finally executes his plan: he creates a device to destroy the city and harness control. Shoeshine, battered and unsure if he can keep going, ends up captured. And here’s where the surprisingly emotional beat comes in: he willingly gives up his powers to save Jack and the city. For a film about a wise-cracking beagle in a cape, this scene lands harder than it has any right to.

The sacrifice isn’t just about heroics — it’s about Shoeshine finally realizing that being a hero is more about heart and loyalty than flashy powers. Jason Lee’s voice acting in this moment actually sells the sincerity, and for kids (and even adults watching with them), it’s one of the few moments where the film makes you stop laughing and go: “Wait… this pup might actually make me cry.”

Of course, this is Disney, so Shoeshine doesn’t stay powerless forever. With Jack’s encouragement and the bond between boy and dog strengthened, Shoeshine rallies one last time, regains his strength, and swoops in for the big showdown. He faces Barsinister head-on, Cad bumbles around in true Patrick Warburton fashion, and the villain’s evil plan literally goes up in smoke.

🦸 The Ending

Shoeshine is celebrated as the city’s hero, the Unger family fully embraces him, and Polly Purebred finally sees him as more than just a scrappy mutt. The final note of the film is exactly what the title promises: the underdog saving the day, cape flying in the sky, goofy grin plastered on his CGI face.