CATS & DOGS

Guess who made Entertainment Weekly's "It" list? Cats & Dogs' fluffy Russian Blue kitty Ninja Assassin, that's who! The action scene in which the cat attacks top dog Lou (the voice of Spiderman Tobey Maguire) was voted "It Movie Sequence" in the recent issue. It took animators at least 6 months to finish the scene. According to Director Larry Guterman (Antz), the whole film employed 27 dogs, 33, cats and a bunch of Henson Creature Shop puppets to bring this secret war between the two species to life. And you thought all these critters did was shed and dirty the cat box!

Cats & Dogs is about a spy team of dogs whose sole purpose is to get rid of all cats, and not allow humans to have them as pets. When 11-year-old Scott (Alexander Pollock) comes home one day, he accidentally lets his dog, Buddy, out of the house. Buddy chases a cat all through the town and causes all sorts of disarray in the city. They are running through the street when a dog catcher van comes driving through the street, and takes Buddy and the cat away. Scott's mom (Elizabeth Perkins) feels so terrible about what happened that she gets him a new dog. (It's the cutest darn Beagle you've ever seen.)

Scott is still really upset about the disappearance of his dog, so he not only doesn't like this new dog, but he would be unhappy with any dog he gets. Scott calls the dog "Loser" but his mom decides to call him "Lou." When Lou goes around town, he meets up with other dogs who let him in on the whole "spy dog team." Lou is disliked at first, but soon becomes everyone's favorite pup. Meanwhile, the Cat species is trying to get rid of all the pet dogs in the world. They attempt this by trying to steal Scott's dad's (Jeff Goldblum) potion that is supposed to eliminate the allergy that humans have to dogs. The potion has taken Scott's dad countless hours to develop, which makes him break many promises to his son, who in turn becomes angry at him.

The cats want to take this potion, reverse it, and have all the humans in the world now be allergic to dogs. With nobody able to keep a pet dog, the cats will have successfully taken over the world.

Christina says: For the most part, this film was pretty funny, but it got a little corny at times.The movie is cute but the concept is a little too far out there. So who wins? CATS or DOGS? Go see it, and see what you think.

Lynn says: If you like films about heroes, ninja assassins, double agents, high-tech gadgets and plots to take over the world, this film is for you! Of course, you have to be prepared to replace hero flair with fluff and hair. In various scenes, human actors Jeff Goldblum, Elizabeth Perkins and Alexander Pollock are a bit "over-the-top" as the Professor and his rattled family. I agree with Christina that some of the animal antics are pretty far out there. However, it's the smooth combination of CGI, live animals and puppetry that is fascinating and fun to watch.

The animals actually have more character development than the humans. Beagle pup Lou is out for adventure and wants his new family to love him. Older "agent" dog Butch doesn't trust humans because his "boy" went off to college and just forgot about him. Ivy and Butch were once in love. Even Mr. Tinkles is motivated to break free and regain dignity when he is constantly dressed up in silly, uncomfortable costumes by the maid of his rich owner.

Overall, the laughs aren't as clever as those in the Dr. Dolittle films but they aren't all duds either. If you want a little mindless fun and have a "How'd they do that?" attitude about cats driving cars and dogs operating a huge, James Bond-style underground facility, then go to Cats & Dogs and check out what your furry friends are doing behind your back.