Cats and Dogs film review

CATS & DOGS

Running time: 87 mins
Starring: Jeff Goldblum, Elizabeth Perkins, Alexander Pollock, Miriam Margolyes, and the voices of Alec Baldwin, Michael Clarke Duncan, Jon Lovitz, Tobey Maguire, Susan Sarandon, Joe Pantoliano, Sean Hayes

If you're a cat lover, prepare to sharpen your claws. Lawrence Guterman's four-legged family adventure is the most shameless piece of anti-feline propaganda ever committed to celluloid.

Cats are evil, conniving creatures with a propensity for cold-blooded murder; dogs are noble, if slightly dim-witted beasts. It appears that a secret war is waging in our homes - a war that takes place unseen by human eyes.

The massed armies of the cats and the dogs are at each other's furry throats. The cats, led by the power crazed Mr Tinkles (voiced by Hayes), are planning to destroy a ground-breaking dog allergy vaccine. Naturally, man's best friends plan to stop them.

The struggle for supremacy focuses on a young pup called Lou (Maguire) who is guarding the vaccine. Lou is guided in his quest by doggy secret agents Butch (Alec Baldwin), Peek (Pantoliano) and Sam (Duncan), and by the alluring Ivy(Sarandon).

Who will win this fierce and bloody battle, and will the scientist who invented the vaccine (Goldblum) realise what is going on beneath his nose? Cats& Dogs is a shamelessly enjoyable romp through the action movie cliches, with a lovable pooch as the unlikely hero.

The film-makers have great fun with the concept, orchestrating Matrix-style fight sequences with ninja cats, and teary moments betwixt Lou and his boy owner(Pollock). Hayes transforms his villain into the feline equivalent of Dr Evil, cackling and whooping with uncontained glee as his nefarious plan comes together.

Human cast are all solid, but the stars of the show are the critters, brought magically to life with the aid of computer trickery. Some of the violence is uncomfortably near the mark - should we really be laughing at a dog running headfirst into a glass patio door? Once you've seen Cats & Dogs, you'll never look at your pets the same way again...