Aimed squarely at a single-digit IQ demographic and as irritating as a case of fleas, Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore stands as just the latest, lamest example of the "sequel nobody asked for" syndrome that frequently infects Hollywood like mange. The original movie came out in 2001, and now nine years later, the franchise(?) has clearly outgrown the audience it hopes will have fond memories of its CG secret agent animals saga. Amazingly enough, the special effects haven't gotten any better. There are even moments of fake fur puppetry so obvious they make Sesame Street look like a photo-realistic tour of urban America.
When police dog Diggs (James Marsden) is suspended for his uncontrollable behavior, he is recruited by Butch (Nick Nolte) to be a member of an elite canine tactical unit pledged to fight the ongoing feline menace. The latest cat to go rogue is Kitty Galore (Bette Midler), a hairless harpy who plans on unleashing "the call of the wild" -- a sound that will drive all Bowsers bonkers and turn them against their human masters. Rigging a satellite dish to broadcast the aural assault and using carrier pigeons -- including loopy birdbrain Seamus (Kat Williams) -- to mastermind her takeover, the pups have but a few hours to discover her secret lair. With help from "the enemy" -- a cat (Christina Applegate) vowing to take down her fellow fuzzball -- and the villainous advice of former adversary Mr. Tinkles (Sean Hayes), Diggs has a chance to redeem himself...or doom his chances of ever being a top animal agent.
Rife with ridiculous cinematic spoofs (James Bond, Batman, The Silence of the Lambs) and littered with irritating, joke-a-minute performances, Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore is celluloid babysitting at its worst. After a summer that's seen a solid send-off for Shrek, the genuine joys of Pixar's Toy Story 3, and Universal's clever if cutesy Despicable Me, this shoddy family film is regressive in the worst way. It's a reminder of why the genre has struggled so to shake the nagging image of being nothing more than half-witted, hackneyed entertainment. Instead of using the advances in technology to take this set-up in an original or novel direction, director Brad Peyton and Chicken Little/Open Season screenwriters Steve Bencich and Ron J. Friedman serve up the kind of prefabricated pabulum that critics of '80s Saturday Morning TV used to rail against.
Everything here is just lifeless and dull. Marsden makes for a mediocre hero, and Nolte seems lost in an accidental lampoon of 48 Hours. Midler spends so much time chewing the scenery that we never get a real handle on Kitty's proposed cruelty, and Applegate is as bland as everything else. The biggest sin however is committed by "comic" Kat Williams, given the full "Chris Tucker" leeway treatment and allowed to ramble on incessantly...and incoherently. Every conversation in the film is peppered with Seamus's unfunny ad-libbing, the noted stand-up adding insult to the insufferable with his pointless patter. For some reason, nothing can pass without Williams's wasted commentary -- an action scene, a moment of manipulative emotion, a simple plot point. It's beyond aggravating.
So is the vast majority of Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore. In the realm of kid vid efforts that don't even try, it's a marvel of moviemaking laziness. Even the now mandatory 3D gimmickry feels obvious and uninspired. When the brand new five-minute Wile E. Coyote and Roadrunner cartoon which accompanies the feature offers the most solid source of possible fun, you know it's time to surrender. As updates go, it's several years too late and several ideas too short.
When police dog Diggs (James Marsden) is suspended for his uncontrollable behavior, he is recruited by Butch (Nick Nolte) to be a member of an elite canine tactical unit pledged to fight the ongoing feline menace. The latest cat to go rogue is Kitty Galore (Bette Midler), a hairless harpy who plans on unleashing "the call of the wild" -- a sound that will drive all Bowsers bonkers and turn them against their human masters. Rigging a satellite dish to broadcast the aural assault and using carrier pigeons -- including loopy birdbrain Seamus (Kat Williams) -- to mastermind her takeover, the pups have but a few hours to discover her secret lair. With help from "the enemy" -- a cat (Christina Applegate) vowing to take down her fellow fuzzball -- and the villainous advice of former adversary Mr. Tinkles (Sean Hayes), Diggs has a chance to redeem himself...or doom his chances of ever being a top animal agent.
Rife with ridiculous cinematic spoofs (James Bond, Batman, The Silence of the Lambs) and littered with irritating, joke-a-minute performances, Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore is celluloid babysitting at its worst. After a summer that's seen a solid send-off for Shrek, the genuine joys of Pixar's Toy Story 3, and Universal's clever if cutesy Despicable Me, this shoddy family film is regressive in the worst way. It's a reminder of why the genre has struggled so to shake the nagging image of being nothing more than half-witted, hackneyed entertainment. Instead of using the advances in technology to take this set-up in an original or novel direction, director Brad Peyton and Chicken Little/Open Season screenwriters Steve Bencich and Ron J. Friedman serve up the kind of prefabricated pabulum that critics of '80s Saturday Morning TV used to rail against.
Everything here is just lifeless and dull. Marsden makes for a mediocre hero, and Nolte seems lost in an accidental lampoon of 48 Hours. Midler spends so much time chewing the scenery that we never get a real handle on Kitty's proposed cruelty, and Applegate is as bland as everything else. The biggest sin however is committed by "comic" Kat Williams, given the full "Chris Tucker" leeway treatment and allowed to ramble on incessantly...and incoherently. Every conversation in the film is peppered with Seamus's unfunny ad-libbing, the noted stand-up adding insult to the insufferable with his pointless patter. For some reason, nothing can pass without Williams's wasted commentary -- an action scene, a moment of manipulative emotion, a simple plot point. It's beyond aggravating.
So is the vast majority of Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore. In the realm of kid vid efforts that don't even try, it's a marvel of moviemaking laziness. Even the now mandatory 3D gimmickry feels obvious and uninspired. When the brand new five-minute Wile E. Coyote and Roadrunner cartoon which accompanies the feature offers the most solid source of possible fun, you know it's time to surrender. As updates go, it's several years too late and several ideas too short.
