Ever wonder what common house pets do when you go to sleep at night? The makers of "Cats and Dogs" apparently have given this topic some serious investigation and now the truth finally can be told.
This fun family flick reveals ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics that demonstrate that people didn't actually worship cats thousands of years ago. In reality, cats ruled people. At some point in time, dogs fought the cats out of their position of authority and the social order between cats, dogs and people became what it is today.
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But the cats are revolting and one renegade fur ball, Mr. Tinkles (the voice of Sean Hayes), is bent on reclaiming world domination. With a diverse army of warrior cats, his plan involves stealing a formula that would permanently cure dog allergies from the kooky Professor Brody (Jeff Goldblum). It's up to the elite super spy dogs, utilizing state-of-the-art surveillance and tactical warfare, to fight the feline uprising and protect the safety of both dogs and mankind.
The greatest talking animal film of all time is arguably "Babe" and this one obviously isn't trying to compete with it. "Cats and Dogs" exists on a different, more simple and action-oriented plane and should be approached with much more pragmatic expectations.
Apart from the talking animals, the insane plot alone requires a high level of suspension of disbelief. The concept of a hidden world equipped with super-intelligent animals and technology just as modern as anything our government operates with is presented very well, but any attempt to think about it too deeply will reveal a lot of flaws.
This shouldn't at all bother the target audience, children younger than 10.
"Cats" has eye candy galore with its stunts, action sequences, variety of animals, enormous underground base of operations for the dogs and detailed computer effects. The kids also will probably get a kick out of one-liners like "Toto annihilation!"
The battle between Lou and the ninja Siamese cats is worth the price of admission alone. Cleverly staged and consistently witty, it is an excellent example of how to use computer effects properly.
However, some of "Cats" is just too cute for its own good. The lead beagle, Lou (the voice of Tobey Maguire), is adorable, but the cloying drama revolving around whether or not the boy he moves in with will accept him is just not at all interesting. This inane aspect of the plot is loaded down with syrupy-sweet music and drawn-out close-ups of faces in dramatic conflict and takes up far too much of the movie's running time.
The film's espionage-thriller aspect is quirky and original, yet it is unfortunately downplayed in favor of the cutesy family drama. Reportedly, several risky double entendres and perverse subplots were deleted from the script in favor of a less risky approach prior to filming. If the filmmakers had gone full force with the edgy humor and spy/action adventure angle, this could have been a howling success rather than just something to bark about.
Goldblum is enjoyable as the absent-minded professor, even though a few of his self-deprecating jokes don't work. Alec Baldwin and Sean Hayes are the real standouts in the animal voice arena. Both actors imbue their characters with a unique humor and style. Additionally, Jon Lovitz deserves credit for milking his cowardly, sniveling kitty character for every laugh it's worth.
Cat lovers may take offense at the vindictive, evil way the felines are portrayed here, but it's all done with a harmless sense of humor. Besides, anyone who has ever owned a cat knows that the animals never did stop ruling the earth. They know who's really in charge.
Nowhere near as bad as its critical reception makes it out to be, "Cats and Dogs" is a rather enjoyable, lightweight family film with plenty of cute critters and humor to please the kids and some surprising celebrity voices and homages to other films to keep the adults' attention.
Anyone with a fondness for either of the animals in the film's title should have a field day with this one. It's more fun than a barrel of shih-tzus.
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