Beverly Hills Chihuahua Blu-ray delivers stunningly beautiful video and great audio in this fan-pleasing Blu-ray release
A pampered Beverly Hills Chihuahua named Chloe finds herself accidentally lost in the mean
streets of Mexico without a day spa or Rodeo Drive boutique anywhere in sight. Now alone for
the first time in her spoiled life, she must rely on some unexpected new friends -- including a
street-hardened German Shepherd named Delgado and an amorous pup named Papi -- to lend
her a paw and help her to find her inner strength on their incredible journey back home.
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.
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 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 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 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.
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.
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