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DOLITTLE (PG) hh

Director: Stephen Gaghan Starring: Robert Downey Jr, Antonio Banderas, Emma Thompson

SOMEWHAT perversely, Robert Downey Jr’s Dolittle does way too much in this hyperactive reboot of the children’s classic. The Hollywood A-lister’s 21st Century version of the beloved Victorian super vet is a grab bag of ticks and mannerisms

And his exaggerated Welsh accent only exacerbates the problem of the character’s intense unrelatability. Despite a stellar line-up that includes Emma Thompson, Antonio Banderas and Octavia Spencer, this 2020 version has the capacity to be damaging for Universal Pictures’ final balance sheet.

Dolittle is set seven years after the title character’s wife, Lily, was lost at sea during a daring expedition in search of a rare and exotic flower. Grief-stricken, the eccentric explorer has retreated from the world.

Dolittle’s animals, to which he bears an increasing resemblance, are his only companions – until his defences are breached, simultaneously, by a young man who wishes to become his apprentice (Dunkirk’s Harry Collett) and a sweet royal emissary (Carmel Laniado) on an urgent mission.

The young Queen Victoria (Jessie Buckley) has fallen victim to a mysterious illness. Dolittle is her only hope. Banderas has fun with the roguish, vengeful King Rassouli and Michael Sheen does what he can as Dolittle’s snivelling, jealous rival Dr Blair Mudfly. There are a handful of good lines and the PG-rated action is pacy enough to sustain its target audience’s attention for the 101minute running time.