The people behind the new animated film “The Cat in the Hat” are pretty sure they have the cat in the bag. It’s not even open yet and there are on-screen references to possible cinematic spinoffs for The Magic Jet Couch and The Things. As the credits roll, the titular feline even enters the scene: “Let’s get to the sequel!”
He’s probably right about that, though: an inevitable franchise born thanks to a fanciful, beloved intellectual property that now gets the Marvel Cinematic Universe treatment: put the fate of the world in the balance, insert a horrible enemy, and add lots of things – in this case, dozens of things – until we just want it to end. To quote the book’s sullen goldfish: “No, I don’t like it/Not at all.” »
Directed by Erica Rivinoja and Alessandro Carloni, who also wrote the screenplay, “The Cat in the Hat” is what happens when a lot of money is invested in a film with mediocre returns. (We are talking Taylor Swift in cash, thanks to its “Shake It Off”.)
At least it departs from the live-action approach of the underachieving and scary 2003 film starring Mike Myers, instead using stylized and varied computer animation. Bill Hader now expresses the Cat, with his sarcastic, demented and oily approach. The cat is depicted with teeth, however, and it’s unsettling.
We meet the Cat after he bombs his last mission. It turns out he works for a brilliant corporate conglomerate that sends envoys to cheer up children back home. There’s even a human resources department and white-collar offices – our anarchic cat as an office drone.
Missions here are evaluated on two metrics: a hopeful increase in customer happiness and the level of destruction left behind. The cat is good at the first thing, but bad at the second. He faces being fired unless he succeeds in his next task: cheering up two depressed children whose single mother recently moved them to town.
When he appears, he is promptly pepper-sprayed by the eldest, Gabby, a marching band nerd with enormous glasses and a “creative, artistic soul.” She thinks it’s a home invasion and wants to call the cops. This reaction is not canonical.
The cat must convince Gabby and her younger brother, Sebastian, to have fun, and if there is any damage, he has stolen a device from the office supplies – a clock-like “gobacker” – that can undo the past. They lose him soon. “I can’t believe it and I’m a talking cat,” says our hero.
Now things kick off into operatic levels, with a mysterious, nefarious, glowing-eyed creature – a cross between a huge bat and a toothy pterodactyl – also hunting the device. If he finds it, “the structure of the universe will be distorted forever.” Yeah. What happened to: “I know it’s humid and not sunny, but we can have a lot of fun and it’s funny?” »
The goldfish is here – Matt Berry, hijacking the film – as a pseudo-Shakespearean actor-type fish with an English accent named Waffles. Waffles? And there are things galore – during the climactic battle scene – yes, there is a battle scene – there must be thousands of things. But not a single rhyme, too bad.
The animation is handled wonderfully, with three distinct styles for different worlds. (As the book says: “My tricks aren’t bad.”) And the voices are cast perfectly: Giancarlo Esposito as Cat’s evil boss, Bowen Yang as the intern, and Paula Pell as the landlady all stand out.
The message is confusing. The first is that you should always defend a friend. Another reason is that, surprisingly, your parents were once cool. A third is that the house is where you want it to be. And fourth, making messes is the best part of childhood.
There was no need to spoil “The Cat in the Hat.” There was no need for there to be a possible break in the space-time continuum. There was no need to flood the area with stuff. And he doesn’t need a sequel, please.
“The Cat in the Hat,” a Warner Bros. release. Pictures Animation, which arrives in theaters Friday, is rated PG by the Motion Picture Association for “action, some peril, mild language and crude humor.” Duration: 107 minutes. One and a half stars out of four.
Gn entert
