Bad Movie Club: The Karate Dog


2005 action movie

Bad Movie Rating: 4/5 (Fred: .5/5 ; Josh: 3/5; Melissa: no rating; Jeremy: no rating; Kristen: 4/5; Libby: .5/5; Johnny: 4/5)

Rating: 4/20

Plot: A detective and a karate dog take on bad guys.

For sentimental reasons, this is one of my favorite Bad Movie Club experiences.

This one had been on my "Must See" list for a couple of years, and when you look at the poster up there, you can probably figure out why. Not sold? Well, what if I told you that the dog was voiced by the incomparable Chevy Chase? Maybe you're sold just knowing that the voice not only knows karate, thanks to Mr. Miyagi who is in this movie for about five minutes, but also speaks. Well, "speaks" isn't the most accurate word I can use. No, this karate dog cracks wise! Obviously! After all, he's voiced by the incomparable Chevy Chase!

I'd never wish harm on anybody, even retroactively, but Pat Morita should have died a few years earlier to avoid having to be in this movie.

There's a lot going for this movie although there's not a lot of karate in there. If you're just watching this for the kung-fu action, you might want to watch only the beginning and the climax. Now, that climax is something to behold, a fight to the death on a rooftop. It combines Matrix-style action sequences with idiocy to create something that will have you holding your breath.

Bad comedies are difficult to watch. Bad movies are funny because they're not supposed to be funny. A bad comedy is supposed to be funny and bad because it's not funny. So where's the entertainment value in that? Karate Dog uses almost every dog pun you can think of, and the comedy is nearly painful. I know--it's surprising knowing that Chevy Chase was involved. If this was just comedy and a smattering of action scenes, it wouldn't be worth your time, bad movie aficionados.

It's worth your time, however, solely because of the performance of Oscar-winner Jon Voight. I have no clue why he decided to get drunk and be in this movie or what the heck he thinks he's doing in this movie, but the performance is a special one. He adopts this Texan drawl reminiscent more of a Looney Tunes character than a flesh 'n' blood human being. But enough of my words. Watch this and tell me this isn't the greatest thing that human beings have ever created:


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