"We are hear to fight all threats - foreign and domesticated."
I know that any street cred I possibly have regarding movies is in jeopardy if I admit that I loved the first CATS AND DOGS movie. Even though they make my beloved kitty the bad guys, they really created a cute movie about how there is a never ending battle between these two groups. I liked Shaun Hayes as the voice of the diabolical Mr Tinkles (evil cats with foofy sounding names are just awesome).
The sequel opens up to Pink's 'Get The Party Started' and has a great cat/dog themed montage of dancing silhouettes like you see at the beginning of every James Bond movie (exploding yarn balls, parasailing kitties, jumping fish, bones and fire hydrants for example)
Kitty Galore is the most evil kitty around and has been unseen for many years. Her sudden reappearance does not bode well for the planet. Kitty has a mad on for the humans so she plans to eliminate their dog protectors so that she can enslave all the people in the world.
The story begins with our secret spy dog organization recruiting a police German Shepherd (Diggs) into their ranks after they see how that dog handled a hostage crisis at a used car dealership. The dealership was destroyed by an explosion that happened as the dog was running towards the camera - just like every human action hero has done for decades. The one thing Diggs has going for him is that he hates cats and I mean REALLY hates them.
Diggs gets no respect from the Police Chief (or the other police dogs) and his handler (Chris O'Donnell) has been ordered to let him go from the force. O'Donnell argues for his partner ("Don't put him back into the system. He has been in kennels his whole life.") but it's of no use.
Do I smell redemption here?
I liked how this movie is a spoof of the action/spy genre and never takes itself too seriously. There is even a neat parody of 'Silence of the Lambs' thrown into the mix.
Why are some dogs clothed and others are not? Who cares. I chalked the difference up office workers and field agents. A dog out in the world on a mission can't very well be wearing a white shirt, a tie, and sporting glasses.
The CGI effects are mixed with live animal shots to create the very effective illusion that what we see on screen is real. Often it is very cute and very funny to see how the personalities of each breed of dog comes out to further the story. You really root for the good guys and Pussy Galore is a hairless cat that you love to hiss and boo at.
Many of the set pieces are fun to look at and there is often hilarious stuff going on in the background. While I watched it I so wished that I had a bunch of kids under 10 to enjoy it with me. The ones at the theatre I saw it in never stopped giggling and laughing at all the crazy antics the animals on screen do. I especially liked watching all the dogs going about their daily tasks in their headquarters (Dog HQ) just like they would if they were working in the C.I.A.
For parents there is the fun recognition of well used spy movie scenes like the strange technology being created to fight the cats (Q) and the video footage of Kitty Galore in her lair stroking an evil white RAT like Blowfeld did in the Bond movies with his cat. Only this rat talks and is named Scrumptious (who is total Oscar bait) by KG. There is an evil henchkitty named PAWS who has steel teeth like you know who.
Eventually the dogs team up with a cat and a pigeon and these traditional enemies attempt to foil kitty galores evil schemes.
This one only got a 14% rating on ROTTEN TOMATOES but for my taste this kind of movie is critically bulletproof. It's no 'Schindler's List' but what do you expect from a talking animal movie? All the kids at the theatre last night squealed with delight throughout. It's cute and fun with sight gags and action sequences that showed that the creators really tried hard to please their audience. If one joke or gag fell flat - wait two minutes and there is another one right around the corner.
Not a date movie but if you have seen 'Despicable Me' and 'Toy Story 3' already, this is a fun family movie that will be an even better choice in a few months when the DVD comes out.
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3 comments:
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I agree with you Kal... I hate that critics pick apart fun movies like these because "they are unrealistic" or "rediculous". A, newsflash dipshits, its a talking animal movie... The same goes for people who want every sci-fi movie to be Empire Strikes Back or every comic book movie to be The Dark Knight. Not everything should be stacked against each other, and just because its not as good as something else does not mean its bad.
Secondly, most of the douchey critics who watch these movies watch them by themselves, so of course they will not get the effect. My son is 7, and last night we watched Beverly Hills Chihuahua and he laughed like a mad man. It was ok, but better cause I watched it with him. Not all kids movies have to be Pixar-like life stories with extensive believable plots. Thats their schtik, and they do it well. But good old fashion kid type fun is great, and when uppity older people shit on movies like this, they just show their age and how outta touch with their childhood they are.
I have a tattoo on my leg that says "My son taught me how to be a man without losing the boy in me" and I realize it everyday. He keeps me young, and I can't wait to see this movie. Good job Kal, keep up the good work. And keep the cat pics coming, they are great!!!!!
Thanks for that Mike. I hate that I felt I needed to justify how much fun I had watching this goofy movie. Glad to see there are other people like me out there.
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