Movie Review - Cats & Dogs (2001)

A Cats Vs Dog Pet Movie Like No Other!

Cats rule! Dogs rule! No matter where your loyalties for the furry critters lie, you will enjoy this hugely enjoyable power struggle of the pets directed by Lawrence Guterman.

Lou is a secret agent wannabe. Unfortunately he is just an inexperienced Beagle puppy and new pet of the Brody household. Fortunately for him, the bipedal head of the household is a scientist (Jeff Goldblum) and a frenzied breakaway faction from the feline fraternity wants his formula. Professor Brody is close to a breakthrough in defeating the allergic reactions millions of humans have to dogs. This will upset the balance of pet power and mean more dogs would be chosen as pets over cats. Since every dog has his day, Lou is recruited to be an agent for the canine contingent.

The evil flat-faced Mr. Tinkles, a long haired Persian cat with Hitler-like qualities, is intent on world domination and the maniacal moggy won’t let man’s affinity for pooches stop him. He intends to corrupt the formula and make all humans allergic to dogs.

It’s up to Lou and the team of well-equipped four-footed agents to try to prevent the cats from taking over the world. He has the backup of a wide range of experienced canine agents, all intent on keeping the formula from falling into furry paws. Echoes of James Bond and all his gadgetry resound as hi-tech battles rage in suburbia.

Sharp-edged satire, which might offend some, but is still very funny, claws its way into a rally scene between Mr. Tinkles and his ally. World Domination pamphlets and a parliamentary session (incredibly accurate and not dissimilar to many human parliaments) complete with canine reporter Wolf Blitzer are just a couple of the chuckle-inducing scenes.

The film includes a great rip-off of a classic scene in "The Matrix", when Mr. Tinkles sends ninja cats to break into Professor Brody’s lab! And the fur really flies in a hilarious scene when the cool canines have to prevent The Russian (posing as a small defenseless kitten) with his deadly fur balls, from stealing the formula.

The special effects are excellent — apparently the producers filmed hundreds of dogs and cats, able to perform a variety of actions in front of cameras and then, interspersed the footage with close-up shots of realistic pooch and pussy models, specially created for certain scenes or facial expressions.

Forgetting the old adage, "never work with animals", Tobey Maguire, Alec Baldwin, Joe Pantoliano, Michael Clarke Duncan, Jon Lovitz, Charlton Heston and Susan Sarandon have at least put their mouth where the money is and lent their voices to this fun film. A great watch for the entire family!

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