Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Just a quick fact about Me before you read my review. I'm 15 yrs. old and i watched this show 4 years ago, and i'm still watching to prove my points, plus i wanted to tell you this so you don't think i'm an adult. Martha Speakes is a show for kids of the age of 8 to 11 yrs. old. This show is very age appropriate. No adult, teenager ,or grown up kid will like how this show explains words. Especially when it said from a certain dogs voice. Martha's voice makes her the Fran Drescher of PBS. Her voice is so annoying it turns off anyone who is above the age of 11. Not all of the characters act like their age. The frame rate of the show is decent, because the charters basically painted paper puppets. And can some explain to me how a dog who ate alphabet soup and got the power to speak, can call the police with her dog paws, and get a ton of petitions signatures to ban 4th of July fireworks. Even though this is a cartoon, it can try to make some sense. I give Martha Speakes a 5.9/10. This review was made in 2012.

My kid LOOOOOOVES Martha Speaks! We stumbled on this by accident while channel surfing. After I saw how interested he was in it, I went to the library to borrow a couple of DVDs. I knew then that he loved them enough for me to buy them. He now has 2 of Martha's DVDs and can't get enough of her. I love them because they do manage to write great and very funny stories that appeal to both kids and adults. I can truly call this a family show.The thing that appeals to me about "Martha Speaks" is even though Martha is very intelligent and can articulate like a human, she's still a dog who still thinks like a dog (i.e., she still likes to drink out of the toilet bowl, dig holes and eat out of the garbage), which creates some very interesting situations! It also exposes my son to very big words and their meaning - and it does seem to have helped expand his vocabulary.I think that this would make an excellent live-action movie if anyone decided to make that move (hint, hint) and I would be the first one to see it! I would HIGHLY recommend these DVDs and the books!

What would my dog say if it could talk? That was the question the daughter of children's author, Susan Meddaugh asked one day while eating alphabet soup. Susan took that one premise and her real dog, Martha, and constructed a very creative series of books which have now been transformed into a PBS animated series. Martha is the dog of Helen Lorraine, a ten year old little girl. One day, Martha accidentally eats some of "Martha's Alphabet Soup," and discovers that the letters go to her head instead of her stomach. Thus, she begins to talk, and talk, and talk. Produced by WGBH Boston and Studio B Productions, Inc., the show creatively introduces words to a young audience straight from a dog's point of view. Martha manages to wriggle herself into all kinds of situations while learning what words and phrases really mean by human standards. And, consequently, her human caregivers learn some new tricks from this very intelligent mutt. The fact that she can translate what other animals say comes in very handy at times, as she attempts to live in a world that real dogs rarely understand. To say that her antics are sometimes hilarious is somewhat of an understatement. Here is a family, two dogs, a group of friends, and a sly sense of humor located in a comfortable neighborhood that could be located just down the street. Martha creates a casual, entertaining learning mood that is easily revisited. This show is geared not only for children, but, as with the most successful cartoons, it works on many different levels for adults as well. As a new fan of this wonderful series, I can highly recommend that parents "sit" and watch this show with their kids, "speak" about what they have just seen, "roll over" with laughter, and go eat some "alphabet soup" for lunch. I promise you won't hit the "paws" button.