The ongoing war between the canine and feline species is put on hold when they join forces to thwart a rogue cat spy with her own sinister plans for conquest.
James Marsden provides the voice of Diggs, a German shepherd who works alongside Shane (Chris O’Donnell) for the police department. Diggs has a serious problem – he can’t follow orders. This is made clear when he disobeys his master’s orders during a hostage situation, which results in a used-car lot being blown up. Diggs is sent to the kennel, as he has proven to be unfit to work as a canine cop.
Butch (Nick Nolte) and Lou (Neil Patrick Harris) see potential in Diggs, and decide to give him the chance to join their secret society, and help rid the world of their enemy: troublesome felines. Bette Midler voices the role of the antagonist, Kitty Galore, an ugly, hairless cat with a chip on her shoulder and a goal to purge the world of dogs. She has created a machine that emits a high frequency signal that will render all dogs useless.
Russian Blue feline, Catherine (Christina Applegate) is an agent for MEOWS, a rival spy-cat organisation. She is required to join forces with the dogs to save mankind. The age-old feud between cats and dogs creates tension in the partnership, but they must put aside their differences if they want to succeed.
I admit that I was a big fan of the first Cats & Dogs movie, in fact, I have it on DVD. I found it hilarious, and just a bit of good fun. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the sequel. I didn’t care about any of the characters, and I felt like the movie was made ‘just because’. Maybe they made it just so that they could use 3D, which didn’t add anything to the film.
Apparently the movie cost $150 million to produce! I am not sure if they will make that money back. Who knows. The cinema was filled with kiddies, and they seemed to enjoy it, although there wasn’t a whole lot of laughter. I only laughed once or twice, once at Mr. Tinkles dressed up like Hannibal Lecter, which did look pretty cool.
This film was unoriginal and unimaginative. Sure, it was easy enough to watch. There were a few fun moments, and I think it will go down well with the kids. I went to the cinema with too high expectations, however, if you look at it for what it is: a kid’s movie, it is fine. Just don’t expect it to be adult-funny.
I give this film two out of five stars.