Cats and Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore

Cats and Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore, the sequel to a film that debuted nine years ago, is the latest feature to debut on both 3d and flat screens. And I’d say that the film would’ve been better without the 3d effects.

The heroes of this film are an organization of secret agent dogs. Their newest recruit is Diggs, a German Shepherd booted out of SFPD for disastrously “resolving” a crisis at a Used Car lot. Lou the Beagle, head of the spy dogs and hero of the first film, recruits Diggs to the objections of his main dog Butch.

Their mission is to thwart the evil rogue cat Kitty Galore, who plots to drive all dogs mad by transmitting a horrendous sound all over the world. It’s all in revenge for her rejection by her former family after being disfigured by hair-removal cream. The heroic dogs are aided by heroic feline agent Catherine, her employers MEOWS, and the pigeon Seamus.

The 3d conversion on this film is the crummiest I’ve seen. It’s not only not that noticeable, but distracting and disorienting. What’s so special about that? Ironically, the 3d is far better in the new Road Runner cartoon that precedes this feature, so maybe it isn’t all that bad.

Strip away the 3d, and the film is actually far better. The Bond inspired credits sequence is a highlight, and a scene with hippy kitties is hilarious. Bette Midler, voice of the titular villain, is clearly having fun, as is former Bond Roger Moore as the head of MEOWS.

This’ll certainly entertain kids, and to some extent, the adults as well. But as I said, you won’t miss much if you see it on flat screen. Except for the Road Runner cartoon, and that is a frustrating dilemma.