Yeah, that’s Shirley “Goldfinger” Bassey singing over the Bond-ish opening credits of Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore. Kids won’t get it, but parents may chortle at the James Bond pun of the film’s title, of hearing Dame Shirley belt out her version of “Let’s Get This Party Started” to open the sequel to 2001’s spy dogs vs. super-villain cats comedy.
But that’s pretty much the high point of this tedious time-killer of a kiddie comedy. The original was ahead of the curve in terms of muttering mutt movies. But this chatty 3D spy spoof is as hard-pressed for laughs as Marmaduke, once you get past the novelty of “Hey, the dogs and cats are TALKING.”
An evil hairless cat, Kitty Galore (nicely snarled by Bette Midler) has plans to take down all of dogdom with a high-pitched broadcast that will drive every dog on Earth nuts. “The planet becomes my scratching post,” she screeches, and the dogs believe her.
The canine spies, especially field agent Butch (Nick Nolte) are hot on her trail, pursuing a stool pigeon (Katt Williams) who may have some answers. They need some help from a new recruit, a chronic screw-up of a police dog, Diggs (James Marsden). They may even need the help of…grrrrrrrrrr…a CAT (Christina Applegate), one of the few non-evil ones.
Dogs and cats in jet packs and bat wings, riding motorcycles with fake humans on the handlebars, the odd gimmicky use of the 3D, Kitty Galore’s inept magician owner — are all potential laughs than never quite land. A better gag? The chase leads everybody to the house of a “cat lady,” filled with stoned kitties, “hopped up on catnip.” Well, this is set in San Francisco
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Parents with a memory of Nick Nolte’s career may get a kick out of his chasing his old Down and Out in Beverly Hills co-star, Midler, or his 48 Hrs. riff – “I’m too old for this poop!” Adults who know their Bond movies will laugh at the voice of “Tab Lazenby,” head of the cat spy corps (a former Bond).
But talky scenes and sequences spread out before us like spilt bags of kitty litter, with digital animals engaging in generic digital derring do. Putting an America’s Funniest Home Videos-style montage of real cat and dog antics over the closing credits only highlights how plastic the whole affair feels.
The new Wile E. Coyote/Roadrunner 3D cartoon paired with this movie scores almost as many giggles in three minutes as Kitty Galore and her henchmen do in 82 minutes.
Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore
Cast: The voices of Bette Midler, James Marsden, Nick Nolte, Christina Applegate, Roger Moore.
Director: Brad Peyton
Running time: 1 hour, 22 minutes
Industry rating: PG for animal action and humor.
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