Movies Reviews

Cats and Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore – Movie Review

By Anne Brodie Jul 27, 2010, 12:36 GMT

$Chris O\'Donnell Jack McBrayer, Bette Midler and Carlos Alazraqui star in the next battle in the continuing wars between species. This time they band together to battle a rogue spy cat.$

Chris O\'Donnell Jack McBrayer, Bette Midler and Carlos Alazraqui star in the next battle in the continuing wars between species. This time they band together to battle a rogue spy cat. ...more

Cats and Dogs is a disarming, sly, and often funny comedy starring the voices of a herd of big name Hollywood stars – Bette Midler, Jack McBrayer, James Marsden, Nick Nolte, Christina Applegate, Wallace Shawn, Sean Hayes, Michael Clark Duncan, J.K. Simmons, Chris O’Donnell and my very favorite example of stunt casting ever, Roger Moore as secret agent Lazenby! If I have to explain, you don’t need to know.

Newfoundland director Brad Peyton’s live action/CGI mix is a sprightly and short animal adventure, pitting eternal enemies, cats, and dogs against each other who then defy nature to align themselves in the battle to save the world from Kitty Galore (Bette Midler).

Kitty is a bare naked freak of a cat, previously a pampered Persian who was stripped of her fur after being hurled into a vat of hair remover. She nurses a grudge against every person and animal that ever crossed her and has hatched a plan involving robotics, space satellites, high tech underground mazes and a flock of animal slaves to have her vengeance.

The animals are rendered so artfully that they are recognizable as characters and pet friends. The artists, director, and actors show keen powers of pet observation and it’s clear in each animal character.

There are loads of recognizable pet moments and a reel of real life pet hijinks over the credits. Kids will enjoy watching the animal world navigating their problems with human intelligence and that pet like sense of super importance.

Parents will enjoy references to Sunset Boulevard and The Silence of the Lambs, and the Bond films - the cleaned up reference in the title. And they’ll love the stars voice performances especially the crisply delivered, highly dramatic Divine Miss M making a bare naked cat seem terrifying.

There’s a fun bit when one of the characters launches into an eloquent defense of the Game of Fetch.

The film moves at a pace with plenty of drama, plot hatching, captures, escapes, physical comedy, and sassy dialogue but slows down towards the end. The climactic battles are photographed so darkly and the action’s so layered and fast that it’s hard to comprehend and too busy.

I did not see the original 2001 film Cats and Dogs (which set the groundwork for an animal espionage ring) and am at a disadvantage and missed references. But as a stand alone fare, the sequel is a good time for kids at a matinee or on video.

Great news, Cats and Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore is preceded by a Looney Tunes short starring Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner, as ever playing Chase Me in the desert this time in 3D.

That’s right – the beloved duo has been resurrected for a new generation of fans in one of their funniest bits ever, beautifully enhanced by new technology that suits the concept to a ‘T’.

It’s the first of a trilogy with two more, one appearing on Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole 3D and one on Yogi Bear 3D. I’m rooting hard for their very own Roadrunner Coyote 3D movie.