Review of Beverly Hills Chihuahua (2008) by Muizz H — 24 Apr 2009

OH MY GOODNESS this movie is another perfect example of NEVER JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER!! I assumed it was a boring, slow paced film lacking value or merit but boy was I wrong!! IT WAS GREAT, TERRIFIC!! Disney has scored a mega hit with Beverly Hills Chihuahua!!! We have Chloe (voiced by Drew Barrymore), a white Beverly Hills raised Chihuahua owned by a wealthy cosmetics mogul (Jamie Lee Curtis) and spoiled with jewels, clothes, the spa, hairsalons and poolside parties with her doggie friends. Sheâ??s loved from afar by Papi, a mangy, dirty Chihuahua owned by their landscaper. Papi (voiced by George Lopez), is a romantic, scrappy little thing. One day Vivian (Curtis) asks her niece Rachel (Piper Perabo) to petsit for Chloe since she has to travel for business. Her niece occupies Curtis' fabulous mansion and has her friends over. Next thing you know they are on their merry way to Mexico for a road trip. Oh boy, well our beloved Chloe gets lost in Mexico and must abandon her designer dog booties and comes across an interesting, happy go lucky and mostly friendly group of strangers along the way to help her find her way home. She enlists the help of a German Shepherd named Delgado (voiced by Andy Garcia) to find her way back to Beverly Hills! Folks, the computer generated images were amazing..Chloe and Delgado steal the show!! Their mannerisms and facial expressions in front of the camera were remarkable- KUDOS to all the animal trainers that it took to bring this project to the big screen!! Its NOT easy to train animals and have them perform exactly how its required for their part!! The voice work for Chloe, Delgado, Monte and Papi was great!

Thereâ??s also a completely bizarre, yet entertaining sequence in which a herd of Chihuahuaâ??s materializes out of nowhere to defeat a group of mountain lions. Ohhh and the sequence where Chloe reaches Montezuma and we see tons of Chihuahuas explaining the regal and interesting history behind the Chihuahua breed is awesome!! Chloe eventually stumbles into her ancestral homeland of Chihuahua, where thousands of her kind dwell among the Mayan ruins and are led by a prophet figure named Montezuma (Plácido Domingo). Here the chihuahuas reject the foolishness of Chloe's lifestyle: "We are not toys or fashion accessories!" they cry. "¡No más!".

"We are tiny but mighty"..... Beverly Hills Chihuahua is also one of the few recent movies to portray Mexico in a positive light. Itâ??s never displayed as the poverty-ridden den of corruption and drug-running it actually is. One of the many messages the movie sends is the illegality and wrongfulness of dog fights as our darling Chloe ends up as potential bait for these fights. Despicable practice that not only is banned but perpetrators need to be held accountable, prosecuted and incarcerated to the full extent of the law (look at what happened to Michael Vic for his involvement in this heinous activity. Law provides a penalty up to three years in jail- should be longer)..But I don't want to digress from my review- "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" features a stellar lineup of Latino actors as voice talent, including Andy Garcia (Delgado), George Lopez (Papi), Edward James Olmos, Paul Rodriguez, Cheech Marin and Luis Guzman. Even radio personality Piolín and opera star Plácido Domingo (Monte) are tossed into the mix. I love Delgado. He's a former police dog who had to leave the force after a troubling incident that he doesn't want to talk about. He calls Chloe "Kid" and uses a gruff exterior to hide his inner goodness. He insists she's not his responsibility, but he keeps coming back to help her. He's the canine version of the type of movie character we've seen many times before. Bottom line: This movie gets my seal of approval and I give it five stars, its earned it!! Thank you Disney Studios!!