Review: Cats and Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore

This is one of those movies where only the pleas of my children managed to drag me to the theatre to see. I was sure that the movie would cause me to claw my eyes out in irritation and disgust. However, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

This is not to say it was really "good". The characters were stereotypical of the James Bond and buddy-cop movies. Digs, the German Shepard, is your standard agent who plays by his own rules, and consistently screws up because of it. Butch is the experienced agent with a short amount of patience for the young agent, and comes down (sometimes too harshly) on him for his lack of control. Katherine is the sleek female agent that is smart, capable, yet has a major obstacle she must overcome to save her friends. Kitty Galore is the absolutely insane villain that is determined to destroy those who have wronged her. None of them had any deep development, or motivations that weren't woefully 1-dimensional.

But, the plot, while again not original, was at least solid. There were no glaring plot holes. A little drama, a little intrigue, a little heart-warming tenderness, a little action, and a lot of slapstick made the movie at least tolerable. The humor, while it didn't make me laugh out loud very often, at least had me cracking a smile. Some of the jokes were adult, but without being crass for family viewing. (My personal favorite was the announced seminar "Even if she's a Doberman, don't pinch her"). Kitty Galore having a mouse that takes the place of the evil cat most villains have was vastly amusing, as was the Hannibal Lecter-inspired Mr. Tinkles.

Given the lack of depth, there isn't much more to say about the movie. The bottom line is that if you don't have kids who want to see the movie, don't bother. It's definitely not worth it. But, if your kids are like mine and are dying to see the movie, you can at least go in and have an enjoyable time.