Even I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this one. – Will
Cats and dogs must team up to stop the diabolical plot of a rogue cat spy.
Directed by – Brad Peyton
Written by – Ron J. Friedman, Steve Bencich, John Requa, Glenn Ficarra
Starring – James Marsden, Nick Nolte, Christina Applegate, Katt Williams, Bette Midler, Neil Patrich Harris, Sean Hayes, Wallace Shawn, Roger Moore, Joe Pantoliano, Michael Clarke Duncan, Chris O’Donnell, Jack McBrayer, Fred Armisen, Kiernan Shipka, Paul Rodriguez, Elizabeth Daily, Phil LaMarr, Michael Beattie, Jeff Bennett, Malcolm Stewart
As I pointed out earlier in the week with my Dad at the Movies post, having kids will affect what films you watch. When Cats and Dogs was in theaters the kids wanted to see it. I actually wanted to see this one but we never got a chance to. It finally arrived off my Zip list so I popped it in to check it out. For some reason the kids were only interested in eating popcorn and wanted nothing to do with the movie. Of course, it wasn’t costing me $10 a person at home! Kids films are usually hit or miss. They’ve certainly gone up in quality since Pixar came around but there can still be some groaning involved in having to sit through some of them. Cats and Dogs 2 actually had me laughing out loud a few times and I really enjoyed it, more than I thought I would.
I can’t even remember the first Cats and Dogs film but if you’ve seen any sort of spy film, especially a Bond movie, you know what you’re getting here. The evil Kitty Galore (Bette Midler) has devised a plan where she’ll transmit a sound only dogs can hear, turning them all into insane beasts. With man’s best friend now his worst enemy, Kitty Galore will be able to take over the world. Seasoned spy Butch (Nick Nolte) and his new partner Diggs (James Marsden) have 24 hours to stop Kitty Galore. The run into a cat spy named Catherine (Christina Applegate) and realize that they only way to stop Kitty Galore is for cats and dogs to team up.
Can cats and dogs put away their hatred for each other long enough to save the world?
Really it’s a Bond flick with animals and it even has Roger Moore thrown in for good measure as the leader of the cat spies. I can’t remember how many talking animal movies I’ve seen now since the kids have gotten old enough to care about movies but at least the CG looks good here. Nothing is more strange than seeing a talking dog with an obvious CGI mouth and Marmaduke springs to mind when I think of badly animated talking animals but Cats and Dogs does a great job of it all. Not every moment is a shining example of this and there was even some really odd-looking animals here and there but overall it’s pretty well done.
What I wasn’t expecting from the film was some great laughs. I typically just hope that the movie won’t make me want to kill myself but a good laugh is one thing that I just assume isn’t going to happen. My girlfriend actually had to come downstairs to see what we were all laughing about. I’m sure she thought I must have gone insane or something like that. Maybe the fact that there are very little actual people in the movie is a good idea. All the recent talking animal flicks I can think of had some of the worst acting in them. When the movie is sold on the talking animals, the last thing I want to see is actors who look like they’ve had their mouths added digitally!
Kitty Galore is determined to control the world.
I’m not much of a James Bond fan but even I can catch some of the references packed in here. That’s part of the fun as you chuckle to yourself with every little moment you catch. The kids don’t know what the hell I’m laughing about and they’re just excited to watch all the action. That’s the other great part about the movie, lots of action. It’s all ridiculous and over the top, hell, the animals talk, but it still never slows down and there’s plenty of fight scenes. My favorite being one on a boat when two Scottish cat assassins attempt to defeat our heroes.
If you’ve got kids and they’re in just the right age group for this one than I can’t see how they wouldn’t enjoy it. Most kids enjoy a cardboard box and some tape though so it’s not a far stretch to see why they’d like this one. It should be enough to entertain the adults as well and I can assure you that it doesn’t end with animated cats and dogs singing and dancing. That always makes me want to stab my eyes out!
Under the marquee – Will
Wow, that is one bad poster…
But, to be fair, I did see a part of this film on TV once or twice, and it was clever/funny.