CATS & DOGS: THE REVENGE OF KITTY GALORE — ★1/2 — Chris O'Donnell, and starring the voices of James Marsden, Christina Applegate and others; shown in both the 2-D and 3-D formats; rated PG (violence, vulgarity); in general release
When characters in "Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore" say things like "This is not good" or "This is worse than I thought," they might as well be commenting on the movie itself.
This live-action comedy is a completely unnecessary, nearly laughless sequel to the surprising 2001 hit, which stretched the one-joke, talking-animals concept as far as it could.
Worse, this follow-up film fails to take advantage of improving effects technology. The animatronics and computer-generated imagery look cheap and unconvincing. And besides, these effects are in service to an awful script and less-than-enthralling story.
By the way, this film is yet another shameless attempt to cash in on the 3-D phenomenon in the cheapest way possible. These effects were added after the movie was shot. (It looks as distorted and headache-inducing as both "Clash of the Titans" and "The Last Airbender.")
James Marsden stars as the voice of Diggs, the canine partner of a human cop (Chris O'Donnell).
Unfortunately, the reckless Diggs has just been booted off the force. That doesn't stop the top-secret D.O.G. from recruiting him to join their ranks.
In fact, D.O.G. top dog Lou (voiced by Neil Patrick Harris) wants Diggs to help his agents take down Kitty Galore (voiced by Bette Midler). This megalomaniacal cat has a plan to take over and disgrace the world's pooch population.
But if he's going to stop her, Diggs will need to partner with a less-than-enthusiastic cat. She's Catherine (Christina Applegate), a feline agent for the M.E.O.W.S organization.
Screenwriters Ron J. Friedman and Steve Bencich ("Open Season") pepper the movie with references to various James Bond features, buddy-cop tales and even 1991's "Silence of the Lambs."
Not only will most of these go over the heads of the film's young target audience, they're not even remotely clever or funny.
Perhaps the most damning thing about this film is the new Roadrunner cartoon that precedes it: the computer-animated gag fest "Coyote Falls." It contains some of the same slapstick and silliness as the main feature, but does it more impressively.
"Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore" is rated PG and features violent content and imagery, most of it done for laughs (including slapstick, animal brawling, vehicular and explosive mayhem), vulgar humor and jokes relating to animal bodily functions (sight gags and references), and a handful of derogatory terms and other slurs. Running time: 82 minutes.
e-mail: jeff@desnews.com