Year: 2019
Rating: PG
Running Time: 1 hour, 43 minutes
A chance meeting between a Cocker Spaniel housepet named Lady and a streetsmart mutt known as Tramp changes the lives of both dogs forever.
 |
| Tramp, voiced by Justin Theroux, takes Lady, voiced by Tessa Thompson, on a boat to show her the sights in the movie "Lady and the Tramp." (Image Source) |
As most of us know by now, Disney has a penchant for turning their old animated classics into live-action feature films. This is not a new thing for them as they have been doing it for decades, but in recent years, it seems to be happening with alarming frequency. Some of their more beloved titles like "Beauty and the Beast," "Aladdin," and "The Lion King" were guaranteed moneymakers because of the nostalgic feelings attached to those classics. Some of their less popular titles like "Dumbo" and "Pete's Dragon" have struggled at the box office. Disney's latest remake, "Lady and the Tramp" (2019), would have likely fallen in line with the latter if it had not been released straight on Disney's brand new streaming service, Disney+. Directed by "The Lego Ninjago Movie" director Charlie Bean, "Lady and the Tramp" once again tells the story of a sheltered housepet named Lady (Tessa Thompson) and a streetsmart mutt known as the Tramp (Justin Theroux). The two dogs meet when Tramp hides from a dogcatcher near Lady's home. At first, the two butt heads an awful lot, but when Lady gets in trouble, Tramp comes to her aid, and sparks of romance quickly fly between the two canines.
 |
| In "Lady and the Tramp," three dogs named Lady (Tessa Thompson), Peg (Janelle Monáe), and Bull (Benedict Wong), are stuck behind bars at the dog pound after being captured on the street. (Image Source) |
2019's live-action incarnation of "Lady and the Tramp" deviates very little from the story told by its animated predecessor with a few key exceptions. For one, the cast this time around is much more diverse as Disney has really tried to embody the spirit of inclusion in their more recent family films. Another big difference is the removal of some very outdated racial stereotypes that were present in the 1955 film. One of our biggest problems with this film is actually the same complaint many viewers had about 2019's "The Lion King" (2019): real animals just can't emote like animated ones. At least dogs have eyebrows, which makes them a little more expressive, sympathetic, and emotionally engaging than lions. Unfortunately, this version just doesn't have the soul of the original, even with the eyebrows, and even with the amazing Tessa Thompson voicing one of the titular characters. It also doesn't help that the overall story isn't that strong, and today, it plays out like any other generic romantic comedy.......but with dogs. It's beat-for-beat the same as any movie starring Cameron Diaz/Drew Barrymore/Kate Hudson and (insert name of 'hottie of the year' here). Boy meets girl, they don't like each other at first, but they get to know each other and fall in love, then they have a falling out, and then there's a grand gesture to bring them back together. To be clear, the original film plays out the same way, but it somehow seemed less cliche when we first saw it happen over 30 years ago. There is also an extra 30 minutes tacked onto its runtime, but despite all of its extra padding, it feels like less happens in this version, which drags down the pacing quite a bit. "Lady and the Tramp" actually failed to hold our attention several times throughout its runtime. It's not all bad, though. There are a couple of cute moments of fun, but overall, we were a little underwhelmed by the whole experience.
 |
| Lady (Tessa Thompson) meets Jim Dear (Thomas Mann) and Darling's (Kiersey Clemons) baby for the first time in Disney's 2019 remake of "Lady and the Tramp." (Image Source) |
Disney's "Lady and the Tramp" (2019) is a harmless but ultimately pointless remake that we will probably forget exists in a month. It's not offensive or awful in any way, shape, or form, but fans of the original will likely take umbrage with many of the little changes made here that could add up in a big way for Lady lovers and Tramp stans. We found the voiceover work to be perfectly acceptable, and the human performances are alright, too. It's not bad enough to hate it, and it's not stellar enough to sing its praises. Kids will probably like it because they will adore seeing all of the cute dogs that fill the screen for 103 minutes. Still, we have a hunch that a couple years down the road, people will be scrolling through Disney+'s streaming service catalog and will stop on 2019's "Lady and the Tramp" and will say, "oh yeah, they remade that, I totally forgot it existed."
BigJ's Rating: 5/10
IMDB's Rating: 6.3/10
RT Rating: 65%
Do we recommend this movie: Meh.
Please be sure to check out Lolo Loves Films all over the internet!
No comments:
Post a Comment