I've owned Cats and Dogs for over 4 years and over that time have watched it on numerous occasions, and this review was originally posted under a former username. It has now been subjected to a much-needed update.
Cats and Dogs is a film for all ages, despite the wafer thin plot that revolves around the struggle between good and evil. Good being mankind and our canine friends whilst evil has taken the form of cute cuddly cats that talk!
An evil cat called Mr Tinkles (voiced by Sean Hayes) has a vision of a better world, one where he himself is supreme ruler, with cats firmly at the top of the food chain and in total dominance of the human race. However, on the road to global domination Mr Tinkles and his army of cats face stiff opposition from a secret organisation of dogs hell bent upon stopping his fiendish master plan.
The story is based in suburban USA Where Professor Brody (Jeff Goldblum) has been developing a serum to protect people against dog allergies. The secret dog organisation, knowing the importance of this research to their kind send their top agents Butch (voiced by Alec Baldwin), Sam (voiced by Michael Clarke Duncan) and Peek (voiced by Joe Pantoliano) to protect
the professor, his family and his research against the evil cats. Without going into too much detail and spoiling the film, one of the agents currently in the house with the family is abducted at the start of the film and replaced (by accident) with Lou (voiced by Toby Maguire), a young, inexperienced puppy.
We then follow the story of how the cats try to destroy the research laboratory using various methods including my favourites, The Russian and Ninja Cats. The resulting story ensures laughs from all ages and giggles all the way to the end even though the ending is pretty predictable from about 10 minutes into the film.
As it's quite tricky under normal circumstances to get cats and dogs to talk. Getting them to do it in front of camera and getting them to remember their lines must be a nightmare, therefore the director Lawrence Guterman chose to use large amounts of CGI throughout the film. This was done to great effect with the actual animation used on the animals during dialogue appears flawless and exceptionally lifelike. Although there are a few glitches with the voiceovers there aren't that many to spoil the effect of the film.
Taking into account the large amount of dialogue between both the dogs and the cats, the special effects can't be knocked and I can't therefore be too overly critical. In some scenes (especially the ninja cats) the special effects are breathtaking.
Where I am going to be overly critical is the performance of the human actors. They were shallow, lacked depth, characterisation, and did not do anything to bond with the viewer. In one scene the family are in mortal danger and I was actually hoping they would actually die! Wooden would be a little harsh, but it's a close description of how they come across. Whilst Jeff Goldblum is his usual bumbling self, the spouse (played by Elizabeth Perkins) and son (played by Alexander Pollock) couldn't act their way out of a paper bag in my opinion.
Overall, I'd rate the film four stars. It's basically a film aimed at a younger audience, but it does have jokes throughout that would only be picked up by adults.
Although it has faults Cats and Dogs was actually very entertaining and I have watched it more than once over the past 3 years. Personally it is very rare that I will go back to a film once I've watched it once but Cats and Dogs is an old favourite that ultimately when bored I will flick on and let myself be entertained without having to think too much. Some scenes are very cute; some are just damn funny with one-liners that had me in stitches at times.
If the film alone doesn't sound like it's enough to convince you to purchase the DVD then take a look at the extra's available. They are brilliant and in my opinion make this one of the best DVD's in my collection (and it's a big collection).
As you play the DVD you have the choice of selecting either Cats or Dogs. Each option takes you off to different menus, but basically, the extra's are:
Directors Commentary HBO Documentaries x 2 Trailers Cinema trailer Casting Couch Cast List Scene Selection Storyboard
As shown above, the DVD extras contain the standard cast list, scene selection and trailers but the extras that make this well worth purchasing are the HBO documentaries, the casting couch and storyboard. The documentaries form part of the "making of" style of programme showing how the animals used in the film were trained and performed during filming. In addition it also shows how the CGI was generated, the level of detail that was used to ensure that movements were conveyed correctly.
The casting couch had me rolling around laughing. Taking the character of Mr Tinkles they showed him in different guises auditioning for various rolls and doing impressions. This lasted for 15 minutes and is one of the extras I do watch over and over again. Even though it is clear that it is entirely created using CGI, it looks incredibly realistic.
The storyboard follows the producer, director and scriptwriters as they move from the concept stage to producing the storyboards, meeting the CGI operators through to the final editing stage of production with an insight and commentary into why certain scenes were cut from the final version of the film.
My copy of Cats & Dogs was a gift but I have seen it on offer in most high street retailers for between £5.99 and £10 and at that price is can only be:
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Thanks for taking the time to read and rate.
Steve :o)
Pictures of Cats And Dogs (DVD)
Front Cover of Product
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Production Year: 1993 - Family - Original Language: English - Classification: Universal - Starring: Michael Caine, The Muppets, Jerry Nelson, Frank Oz, Dave Goelz, David Rudman, Steve Whitmire
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Mar 17th, 2006
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