Cats & Dogs Review: The Revenge of Kitty Galore

What can I say about Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore? This is a furry, not funny, animal tale. Better yet, just sorry. Sorry if you have kids or are a really sweet aunt or uncle because I assure you, as an adult, you won’t want to be in the movie theater for any other reason than to make children happy.

As the follow-up to 2001’s equally unfunny, borderline ridiculous Cats & Dogs, I do have a few good things to say about the film. While the first installment focused on a secret battle, unbeknownst to humans, between spy cats and dogs over ruling the world, the second installment takes the plot to the next level by seeing these dogs and cats put their difference aside and team up to defeat the nefarious and hairless Kitty Galore, voiced by Bette Midler. This little twist really just meant that the entire film could be infused with tons of James Bond puns and allusions, most of which were lost on me along with most of the young audience, but at least provided something tangible for most of the suffering grown-ups to latch onto.

Also on the positive side is the voice actors of varying fame degrees from Midler to Christina Applegate, Roger Moore, Neil Patrick Harris,Katt Williams and James Marsden, to name a few, who attack their roles with zest and seemingly earnest enthusiasm. Midler, especially stands out for her over the top Kitty, who was at least given a one of a kind backstory to villainy. You see, of course a dog was the one to wrong her and leave her in this hairless, shameful existence where no human can truly love her and her former owner even kicked her to the curb on Christmas Day. Not rocket science from these writers but kind of adorable. Otherwise the plot is pretty boring and predictable, and it’s never a good sign when many of the original voices don’t make the return. Seriously, how could Alec Baldwin and Tobey Maguire pass this gem up?

The fact that it’s been nine years since the original also means that the CGI is much improved. It was a very rare moment when the talking dogs mouths seemed off or the visual just didn’t look right. And the idea of having to sit through this film back in 2001 seems like torture about halfway through the movie. Unfortunately, to counter act this improvement, they’ve also chosen to join the 3D wagon and unnecessarily add special effects when none are needed. One step forward. Two steps back.

Though, I have nothing to compare since it was my first encounter with director Brad Peyton, I did expect more from writers Ron J. Friedman and Steve Bencich. Having written the sweet and quirky Chicken Little and the fun and subtly hilarious Open Season, at least I had some faith that there’d be a little bit of sparkle and magic. Not so much. Sure kids will enjoy it, for the most part, but there are also better animated films out (::cough:: Toy Story 3 ::cough:: Despicable Me ::cough::)

At least, there was one pure treat in store when I sat my butt in that theater seat. Things kicked off, hearkening back to my young Looney Toons days, with a Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote cartoon that totally got my hopes up for the 3D…only to realize that the cartoon would be the best use of 3D I’d get to see all day.