Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		5.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.0

Beverly Hills Chihuahua Blu-ray Movie Review

This Michael Vick-inspired adventure won't appeal to many adults.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman March 1, 2009

She's a bossy, arrogant, manipulative Beverly Hills chihuahua.

Beverly Hills Chihuahua is one of the latest animal-centric kid's movie offerings from Disney. It is a formula film through and through, featuring talking animals, danger, adventure, flashy colors, and comedy all rolled into a tidy 90-minute package sure to please younger audiences. Like the studio's line of 'Buddies' films, Beverly Hills Chihuahua caters to one audience and one audience only; those with a double-digit age probably won't be barking, er, applauding at the end of this one. The film is far too stale, predictable, and clichéd to attract more mature audiences, but the younger ones that could care less about anything other than seeing several cute talking animals on a two-country journey will appreciate just about all this one has to offer.

Roof Roof Roof Roof Roof Roof Roof Roof Roof Roof Roof Roof!

Chloe (voiced by Drew Barrymore, Music and Lyrics), a diminutive Chihuahua, lives a life of luxury in Beverly Hills with her owner, Viv (Jamie Lee Curtis, Halloween). When Viv has to go out-of-town and cannot bring her precious pooch, she enlists the help of her niece, Rachel (Piper Perabo, Coyote Ugly), to care for Chloe in her stead. When Rachel is invited to go to Mexico with a few friends, she chooses to bring Chloe along for the ride. All's well until Chloe escapes and finds herself soon thereafter kidnapped for use in underground dog fighting. When word gets out that Chloe is missing, Rachel scrambles to find the valuable dog, and winds up getting help from Viv's landscaper, Sam (Manolo Cardona), and his own Chihuahua, Papi (voiced by George Lopez, Henry Poole is Here), who has the hots for Chloe. Chloe manages to escape from the dog fighting outfit with the help of fellow pooch Delgado (voiced by Andy Garcia, The Untouchables), a former police dog who has lost his sense of smell. Chloe and Delgado can only hope to get back to Beverly Hills before they are tracked down by the slobbering Diablo (voiced by Edward James Olmos, Blade Runner), sent out by the dog fighting ring to re-capture Chloe for what they believe will be a hefty ransom.

From a critical perspective, Beverly Hills Chihuahua is a lousy movie. There is a fine line between innocent filmmaking and bad filmmaking, and Beverly Hills Chihuahua straddles the line part of the time, and falls towards the bad, obnoxious side the rest of the time. The film features clichéd dialogue, a bland plot, and a stale soundtrack, not to mention it seems to have missed the Taco Bell-inspired "Chihuahua" craze by several years. The voice acting is surprisingly poor, hindered not necessarily by the actors themselves but by the generic lines they recite throughout the length of the film. Unfortunately, the film's lead voice, courtesy of actress Drew Barrymore, is particularly bad. There is no emotion, flow, or vitality behind the delivery; it's stale, monotone, and dragged out, sounding more like a first read through rather than any sort of inspired, or at least rehearsed, performance. The remainder of the voice cast is average at best, despite the all-star selection of voices the film employs. The film features a plot that is ripped straight from most any animal-centric film: pampered pet finds itself in a rough-and-tumble world it never knew existed and must fend for itself and find new, strange allies along the way. It's a classic formula, but in the case of Beverly Hills Chihuahua, it somehow missed the mark. Finally, the film attempts to capitalize on a soundtrack chock-full of yesterday's hits that only seem to be in the movie if a line from the song can be in any way connected to the theme of the scene it accompanies. The overused popular soundtrack quickly becomes the film's most obnoxious aspect.

Still, criticisms aside, the film proved to be both a commercial and target-audience success, which means that despite all of the negative remarks, it did all that was asked of it, making Beverly Hills Chihuahua, at the end of the day, a worthy picture. Not all is a total loss with the picture, though. The trio of primary human actors -- Piper Perabo, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Manolo Cardona -- are fine in their roles. Curtis's performance is over-the-top, but her character's goofy attitude fits the film perfectly. Who else but someone short a few cards of a full deck would pamper their pet quite as much as she? The special effects seen in the film are mostly seamless; the dog's mouth movements as they speak reveal nary a hint of digital manipulation. Despite a slew of questionable choices in the film, it does enjoy a mostly brisk pace that allows it to sufficiently develop its characters and create a nice atmosphere that nicely supports the lighthearted nature of the film.

Beverly Hills Chihuahua Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Beverly Hills Chihuahua arrives on Blu-ray with a striking 1080p, 2.35:1-framed transfer. As a Disney film, Blu-ray fans may expect a top-notch transfer, and this one doesn't disappoint. The image is consistently stunning, with a warm and vibrant color palette. The film features most every color under the rainbow, particularly on the clothing and accessories worn by the dogs. A tremendous level of detail that reveals every strand of fur on the dogs, the stitches in their clothes, and the "bling" of their accessories brings the image to vivid life. It also showcases the lavish Beverly Hills locales nicely; the green, well-kept yards and gardens and the well-appointed interiors look marvelous, as do the more earthy tones of the Mexican interiors and landscape. Blacks are amazingly deep; many nighttime shots, particularly those in chapter four after Chloe is left on her own, are especially striking. Such dark shots also revel in tremendous levels of visible detail on streets, façades, and even the garbage on the street. Flesh tones are spot-on. Film grain is seen in minimal amounts over the transfer, and there are no blemishes on the print. Simply stated, Beverly Hills Chihuahua on Blu-ray offers a stunner of a transfer.

Beverly Hills Chihuahua Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Beverly Hills Chihuahua barks up a storm on Blu-ray with a high quality PCM 5.1 uncompressed soundtrack. The popular music accompanying the track spreads out all over the soundstage, with plenty of presence across the front and an ample level of support from the rears. Barks are clear and distinct, though anyone that has dealt with a nuisance barker in their life will absolutely hate the clarity of this soundtrack. The track features a nice amount of environmental ambience, both of nature and of the city. It also employs several instances of nice, deep bass in several scenes. Dialogue reproduction is strong and focused, clear as a bell, and always discernible. Beverly Hills Chihuahua sounds fine, delivering all that is asked of it.

Beverly Hills Chihuahua Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Beverly Hills Chihuahua pampers Blu-ray enthusiasts with the inclusion of several supplemental features. First up is a feature-length commentary track with Director Raja Gosnell. The director covers all the bases rather blandly but effectively. He discusses shooting locations, filming techniques, working with the animals, setting the tone for some of the more difficult scenes (the dog fight scene in particular), and more. Gosnell does a good job of providing a technical background on the film along with anecdotes from the set. Legend of the Chihuahua (1080p, 3:08) is an animated and comedic look at the history of the Chihuahua and its possible place in the future of mankind. Pet Pals: The Voices Behind the Dogs (1080p, 9:28) features the voice cast sharing everything from the dogs they own to the challenges of translating dialogue from paper to booth to screen. Hitting Their Bark: On Set with the Dogs of BHC (1080p, 12:55) looks at the joys and challenges of populating a movie set with a plethora of four-legged creatures, the work of Animal Trainer Michael Alexander, and finding the right animals for the parts. Next up are 10 deleted scenes (1080p, 24:59) and Blooper Scooper (1080p, 3:08), a collection of humorous behind-the-scenes moments from the making of Beverly Hills Chihuahua. Also included are 1080p trailers for Pinocchio, Up, Bedtime Stories, Bolt, Monsters, Inc., Morning Light, and "DisneyXD." Finally, this disc is BD-Live (Blu-ray profile 2.0) enabled.

Beverly Hills Chihuahua Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Any criticism of a film like Beverly Hills Chihuahua need be taken with a grain of salt. It's close to a sure bet that younger audiences will eat this one up, and the film's nearly $100 million domestic box office gross is a testament to that. It might be a "bad" film at the end of the day, but if it pleases its core audience and rakes in a boatload of cash, it's done its job, regardless of any negative critical analyses. Taking the concept of talking Chihuahuas, pampered pets, a perilous journey, plenty of levity, bright colors, and a sprinkling of Disney magic, Beverly Hills Chihuahua is exactly as one might expect it to be. Low expectations are key for anyone over the age of 10; taking the film completely at face value and enjoying the little one soaking it up will alone be worth the price of admission. While this disc likely won't be making many appearances in the old bachelor pad, Disney has done right by the film for this Blu-ray release, and it will make a fine addition to the kid's section of the family video shelf. The transfer absolutely sparkles, the audio isn't too far behind, and there are several supplements to discover when the movie is over. Beverly Hills Chihuahua won't be remembered as one of the greats, but the young ones should enjoy it well enough. Recommended for family movie night.