Movie: ‘Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore’
In Theaters: July 30, 2010
Director: Brad Peyton
Runtime: 82 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG for animal action and humor
Gecko Rating: 
It’s been nine years since the first ‘Cats & Dogs’ was released in theaters, and it’s interesting that it took this long to release a sequel. The original movie didn’t fare too badly at the box office, bringing in nearly $193 million worldwide, but I’m pretty sure this sequel won’t even come close to that. The opening weekend grossed only $17.2 million, and the movie isn’t getting much buzz.
I always feel bad for movies like ‘Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore,’ because you know after watching the trailer that it’s probably going to be really really bad. But then you see all of the voice talent involved and think there must have been some pretty fancy talking to get the likes of Nick Nolte, James Marsden, Christina Applegate, Bette Midler, Neil Patrick Harris and Roger Moore involved, to name a few.
The story follows the nefarious puppy-cat Kitty Galore (voiced by Bette Midler), who has an evil plan to turn the dogs in the world mad, so she and her feline followers can take over the world. I call her a puppy-cat because she’s a cat with no fur, so she resembles a Chihuahua.
But there’s an elite, top-secret organization of dogs, called DOGS, that’s determined to stop her. It’s led by the distinguished beagle Lou (Neil Patrick Harris), and also includes Australian Shepherd Butch (Nick Nolte), a veteran agent who’s tapped to break in rookie partner Diggs (James Marsden), who’s just been let go from the San Francisco Police Department’s K-9 unit.
When the agents realize that catching Kitty will require insider info, they team up with a cat named Catherine (Christina Applegate) and other agents at the top-secret agency MEOWS. Cats!!! Their mortal enemy!!!
The capers include all sorts of stunts and spy gadgets, which are probably fun for kids in the 6- to 8-year-old range. There’s also the buddy-cop story with Nolte and Marsden (shades of ’48 Hours’), but most of the jokes fall flat, and the writing just isn’t that great. That also applies to a B-story in which cop Chris O’Donnell loses his trusty dog Diggs on the force.
Midler makes a great mad-cat out to take over the world, but it’s pretty bad when the best parts of the movie are the Warner Bros. short that plays before the movie starts (Wile E. Coyote and the Roadrunner) and the cute, real-cat-and-dog pairings that play over the end credits.
Images: Warner Bros. Pictures
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