"Cats & Dogs": the idea of the original movie (which I haven't still seen, but I will) didn't appeal me 10 years ago. But then, 10 years ago I had no kids, and when they seemed really interested in this 3D action flick about cats and dogs fighting and teaming up to save the world... well, I decided. That there was a 3D-animation/3D-projection Roadrunner short before it finally tipped the scales towards going. And I'm not sorry. It's not a very smart movie and the dialog is quite simple (OK, the dove character and some of the supporting cast is plain boring), but it worked great as a family movie: the kids (specially the 4 years one, who loved "Toy Story 3") liked the plot and followed it quite all the time without need of much explaining, and the parents liked the sometimes blatant, sometimes more silently reference to movies and sagas, from Bond's (it's really Shirley Bassey at the opening credits!) to "Die Hard", "Lethal Weapon", "Men in Black" or even Burton's "Batman". The middle part was a bit slow (both in the CGI an plot advancement departments) and the main character development was scarce, by any means; much more interesting was his kitty companion and the misadventures of both the villain and his mouse. All in all, recommended as a light family film or as a cop & spy spoof (if you want the spoof not to be as offensive to the original material as the Scary/Date/Disaster/Superhero Movie sagas.

Starring:

Bette Midler, Chris O'Donnell and Jack McBrayer

Genre:

Action, Comedy, Family