Underdog

When a beagle washes out of the police K-9 corps, he winds up in an experimental lab run by the nefarious Simon Barsinister (Peter Dinklage), where he is accidentally endowed with superpowers, including the ability to talk (in the voice of Jason Lee). Nostalgic baby boomers can take comfort in knowing that Hollywood is still ransacking their childhood for cartoon fodder (with Alvin and the Chipmunks coming in December), even if the result in this case doesn’t quite measure up to their fond memories. Still, it’s not as bad as it might have been; indulgent parents can put it in the Netflix queue to keep the kids quiet while Mom and Dad are watching better stuff. Writers Adam Rifkin, Joe Piscatella and Craig A. Williams supply our hero with an adoptive family played by James Belushi and Alex Neuberger.