HOLLYWOOD—There is something about children’s films that just appeals to all audiences. “Cats and Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore” is a side-splitting film that will be enjoyed by the entire family. The film is the sequel to the successful 2001 hit. This time around, the film revolves around a group of dogs and a cats that must work together to stop the evil master plan of feline Kitty Galore (voice of Bette Midler). Her goal is to emit a sound wave that will eventually destroy all dogs. The first film featured memorable villain Mr. Tinkles (Sean Hayes) who reprises his role briefly in the second film. Mr. Tinkles has a hilarious scene where he pokes fun at Hannibal Lecter in the first “Silence of The Lambs” film.
The film revolves around Diggs (voice of James Marsden); a German shepherd who has been in and out of kennels his entire life. He finally thinks he’s found a home with Shane (Chris O’Donnell) who is a cop. After a mishap causes a huge explosion, Diggs fears the worst and runs away. He meets Butch (voice of Nick Nolte) and learns about an elite dog squad who needs his help to stop Kitty. Along the way, Butch and Diggs recruit an undercover cat, Catherine (voice of Christina Applegate), who works for MEOWS. Their goal is to also put an end to Kitty’s reign of terror. Along the way, the gang encounters a pigeon named Seamus (voice of Katt Williams) who holds the key to Kitty’s secret plan.
Seamus is the comedic powerhouse of the film. He delivers some of the most outrageous and funniest one-liners that will have you falling out of your chair. I can’t remember the last time I laughed this hard at a live-action/animated film. This pigeon isn’t an idiot, but he isn’t completely smart, and that’s what makes the audience gravitate to his character. Besides world domination, Kitty has her own problems with her owner Chuck (Jack McBrayer) who dreams of being the ultimate magician. I find it extremely hilarious that Kitty is bent on protecting a mouse, which happens to be a cat’s favorite mealtime snack.
This is one live-action film where the main characters are indeed the cats and dogs. The humans play supporting roles in the film, but the audience is not over-exposed to their characters. This makes it easy for children as well as adults to connect to these characters. Diggs acts before thinking, Butch is a rationalist, Catherine is deathly afraid of water and Seamus, well, he’s just Seamus. What I enjoyed thoroughly about the film is its sarcastic tone and how it points out the differences between cats and dogs. There has always been this long history of “hatred” between America’s favorite pets, but no one actually knows why. The film addresses some of those issues and in an ironic way forces the viewer to ask the question, can cats and dogs really get along? It’s a definite possibility, but again, this is a movie.
The film is not lengthy, running about one hour and a half, and the 3-D aspect is a cool effect. Not too many things come at your face, which is a welcome relief for many children who don’t fully understand the three-dimensional world and the effect it’s having on cinema. You could possibly catch the film without 3-D and still have a great time, but the 3-D works well. “Cats and Dogs:The Revenge of Kitty Galore” is a hilarious film that will have the entire family laughing.
