The Karate Dog
The Karate Dog
PG | 05 May 2004 (USA)
The Karate Dog Trailers

When LAPD computer expert Peter Fowler investigates the killing of an old man in Chinatown, he finds the only witness is his dog, Cho Cho. But Fowler soon discovers Cho Cho is the only dog in the world who can speak to humans... not only that, Cho Cho is an expert in martial arts. When they join forces to track down the mastermind behind the death of Cho Cho's master, it leads these unusual partners into uncovering a dangerous conspiracy which puts both of their lives in danger.

Reviews
StunnaKrypto Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.
Dotbankey A lot of fun.
StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.
Marva-nova Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.
Amy Adler Cho Cho (voice of Chevy Chase) is an extraordinary dog who has been especially trained by his master, Chin Li (Pat Morita). Li is a powerful karate expert and his dog has learned the moves. Not only this, the pooch can talk English! One sad day, bad guys come looking for Li, as he has discovered a rejuvenation formula. Cho Cho's beloved owner is killed but not before a huge fight. In the fray, Cho Cho is also targeted for extermination but he escapes. As police and detectives arrive to investigate what happened, our canine jumps in the back of the hot sports car driven by a handsome detective, Peter (Simon Rex). Once they arrive back at Pete's place, the dog finally starts talking. Peter is freaked! Yet, as he pays attention, this law officer knows what a tremendous help Cho Cho will be in finding the men who murdered Li. He also grows very fond of the lovable dog. Aiding their investigation is a beautiful police officer, Ashley (Jaime Pressly), who Peter admires openly. As all trails lead to a crooked dog racing businessman, Hamilton (Jon Voight), who is only interested in winning races, can the officers bring down Hammie? Can Cho Cho help Peter romance Ashley? This darling movie has a real dog but also uses computer animation to give the canine martial arts skills. What a concept! Rex and Pressly are a dynamite couple, in looks and charm, while Chase makes Cho Cho a dog after everyone's heart. Morita, Voight, and all of the cast fine work, too. Sets, costumes, effects, a funny script and a surefooted direction all combine to produce such an entertaining family film! Doggone it, find it soon.
Michael_Elliott The Karate Dog (2004)* (out of 4) A man (Pat Morita) is murdered and the only eyewitness is his dog Cho Cho (voice of Chevy Chase). Soon a homicide detective (Simon Rex) is working with the dog to find the man responsible and it turns out to be Hamilton Cage (Jon Voight). THE KARATE DOG is highly recommended to those wanting to see a former Oscar-winner get into a karate match with a CGI dog. This was the next to last film that director Bob Clark would do and sadly it's another stinker. It's somewhat hard to be too critical of the film as the filmmakers were clearly not wanting to make a "good" film but instead just make something that would appeal to children. I think some kids might enjoy the campy nature of the film. After all, it's not everyday that you get to see a movie where a dog is doing all sorts of karate moves on people. In fact, the first sequence where we see the dog in action actually had me laughing extremely hard simply because of how silly it actually was. From this point on things get rather boring as we get all sorts of bad comedy, lame one-liners and some pretty poor performances. Rex just isn't appealing in the lead and he can never really keep the viewer interested. Morita is hardly in the movie and Jaime Pressly turns in a pretty weak performance. Voight, well, what can you say about him? I'm not sure how he got involved in these films but he's certainly way too talented. Chase is pretty forgettable in the voice role but you really can't blame him since he has no good lines. THE KARATE DOG isn't a film to take serious but it's clear that not many making it took it serious either.
cbunyea Karate Dog changed my life. I must know what Karate Dog is up to now. I know he must be fighting crime, and kicking the crap out of bad guys somewhere. He is amazing. My favorite part was the dog party (not the one at the end). My second favorite part was Jon Voigt racing the dogs on the track. My third favorite part was Mr. Miagi's role as Karate Dog's sensei. My fourth favorite part was when Karate Dog was feeding lines to Detective Jackass when he was on his date with Jaime Pressley. My fifth favorite part was when Karate Dog and Jon Voigt were fighting on the roof, and Karate Dog KICKED HIS ASS!! My sixth favorite part was when Karate Dog was being interrogated by the Police, and remained silent!! HA HA! My seventh favorite part was when Karate Dog was driving the Detective's car and crashed it into a pond! My eighth favorite part was Jon Voigt drinking the neon juice and acting all young and vibrant. Funny stuff! My ninth favorite part was when the babies tried to steal the van from the day care center...oh wait. Thats from my SECOND FAVORITE MOVIE, SUPERBABIES: Baby Geniuses 2. See my review there, its great.My ninth favorite part from KARATE DOG, ha!, was EVERY time Chevy Chase said something funny. Which was always. My tenth favorite part was when they blew up all those computers by inserting a CD. And closely following that, actually, before that, I enjoyed Karate Dog going in there mission-impossible style to copy the CD in the first place.Need I say more? Come on folks. This is comedic genius. Every time it is on Showtime or HBO I watch it, eyes glued to the screen. And seriously, when is Karate Cat coming out?
daltimus1 This movie is a great family film. Looking for something clean, fun and entertaining for the whole family, this movie will serve the purpose. It is by no means a riveting drama or a hilarious comedy. However, it will be fun for the kids and mildly entertaining for adults. Just by the tittle you should get the idea that the movie is not a serious one. The dog in this movie who talks and does karate is bent on helping a cop find the killer of his previous owner. The cop gets himself into all kinds of trouble as he struggles to produce evidence. Of course a minor plot is his relationship with a female cop who he infatuated with. The dog of course tries to help him with this as well. I guess you will have to watch to see how everything turns out.