“Cats & Dogs 3: Paws Unite!” is a family film and a film that children (who love cats and dogs) can easily enjoy!
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TITLE: Cats & Dogs 3: Paws Unite!
FILM RELEASE DATE: 2020
DURATION: 84 Minutes
DVD INFORMATION: Color, 16:9 widescreen, English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, Subtitles: English SDH
COMPANY: Warner Brothers Entertainment
RATED: PG
RELEASED: October 13, 2020
Based on the characters created by John Requa and Glenn Ficarra
Directed by Sean McNamara
Written by Scott Bindley
Produced by Fruit Chan, Amy Chin, John Chong, Raymond Pak-Ming Wong and Dong Yu
Music by Day Tai
Cinematographer as Siu-Keung Cheng
Edited by Sup Fat Tin
Production Design by James Cheung
Starring:
Garry Chalk as Old Ed (voice)
Melissa Rauch as Gwen the Cat (Voice)
Max Greenfield as Roger the Dog (Voice)
Michael Daingerfield as Duke (Voice)
Paul Dobson as Zeke the Gegu Lizard (voice)
Ian Hanlin as Buck the K9 Shephard (Voice)
Megan Peta Hill as Siri (Voice)
Noel Johansen as Schnauzer (Voice)
Christina Lewall as Shaggy Do (Voice)
Andrea Libman as Fish (Voice)
George Lopez as Pablo the Parrot (Voice)
Sunni Westbrook as the Snarky Tarantula (Voice)
Sarah Giles as Zoe
Kirsten Robek as Ms. Harper
Callum Seagram Airlie as Max Harper
It’s been ten years since the creation of the Great Truce, an elaborate joint-species surveillance system designed and monitored by cats and dogs to keep the peace when conflicts arise. But when a tech-savvy villain hacks into wireless networks to use frequencies only heard by cats and dogs, he manipulates them into conflict and the worldwide battle between cats and dogs is BACK ON. Now, a team of inexperienced and untested agents will have to use their old-school animal instincts to restore order and peace between cats and dogs everywhere.
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray, which I am reviewing in this blog post. The opinions I share are my own.
Back in 2001, “Cats & Dogs” was released in theaters and with a $60 million budget, the film would earn $200.7 million in theaters and would lead to a sequel titled “Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore” in 2010.
With a film released nearly every decade, the third film titled “Cats & Dogs 3: Paws Unite!” (2020) would be released as a straight-to-video, stand alone film.
The film was directed by Sean McNamara (“Soul Surfer”, “The Suite Life Movie”, “Bratz”, “The Miracle Season”) and would feature the voices of Melissa Rauch (“The Big Bang Theory”), Max Greenfield (“Veronica Mars”, “Ugly Betty”) and comedian George Lopez.
In the latest film, the film revolves around Pablo the Parrot (voiced by George Lopez) staging a rebellion as he and other pets (lizards, snakes, hamsters, a tarantula, etc.) are tired of not being selected by pet lovers and that owners always choosing cats and dogs.
So, now Pablo and Zeke the Tegu Lizard (voiced by Paul Dobson) wants to do all he can to prevent dogs and cats of finding a home.
For Roger the Dog (voiced by Max Greenfield) and Gwen the Cat (voiced by Melissa Rauch), they are pets but they are also part of an underground network of pets known as FART (Furry Animals Rivalry Termination) led by Old Ed (portrayed by Garry Chalk) that can communicate and try to solve the problem that is occurring in their city.
Meanwhile, for Roger, his owner Max (portrayed by Callum Seagram Airlie) is a young tennis player with a strict mother (portrayed by Kirsten Robek) who wants to live a normal life, but his tennis mom is very strict and cares nothing but wanting to see her son dedicating himself to be a solid athlete.
For Gwen’s owner, Zoe (portrayed by Sara Giles) is a musician who keeps moving because of her musician father trying to hold a job and she is always concerned of finding a home but also a home that will allow pets.
Let me first just say that “Cats & Dogs 3” is a safe film for parents who are looking for a film to show their children. Featuring a talking dog and cat who work together to take down animal related evil plots, it’s no doubt a film created for children.
With that being said, part of the excitement of the previous films is how it was loaded with star power and a much bigger budget.
The first two films feature major talent such as Jeff Goldblum, Elizabeth Perkins, Tobey Maguire, Alec Baldwin, Sean Hayes, Susan Sarandon, Michael Clarke Duncan, Joe Pantoliano, Nick Nolte, Jon Lovitz, Charleton Heston, Neil Patrick HArris, James MArsden, Christina Applegate, Bette Midler and many more.
Needless to say the first two films, no matter how much critics panned the films, the films did well in the box office but now with the third film, the goal was to go straight-to-video and features the voices of Melissa Rauch, Max Greenfield and George Lopez.
The film is pretty much a family film, not meant to be anything deep. It pretty much features a cat and dog having to work together to prevent a plan hatched by a parrot and lizard who are sick and tired of seeing dogs and cats taken home by buyers and not wanting anything to do with the other birds, lizards, hamsters or tarantula.
And sneaked into the story is a story of the cat and dog’s young owners, Max is a young tennis player with an overbearing mother who wants him to succeed in tennis to the point he doesn’t live a normal life. While Zoe is a budding musician who keeps moving around because of her father’ job and making her worry if the next place they move will take pets.
While the human element is there, not much starts to develop until later in the film when we see Max and Zoe finally meet each other.
As for the pets, they are busy trying to solve a case, but unfortunately the differences between dog and cat keep creeping up and you wonder if these two can work together.
Blu-ray features solid picture quality and crystal clear dialogue with special features including “Animal Charades: Making Cats & Dogs 3: Paws Unite”, “Cast Reveals All: Deep Animal Thoughts” and a “Gag Reel”.
The Blu-ray also features a DVD and a Digital Code.
Overall, “Cats & Dogs 3: Paws Unite!” is a family film. What gives it its PG rating is a scene in which people are stuck in an elevator and a kiss is shared and another scene in which the same people hear a piercing noise which hurts their ears. Other than that, “Cats & Dogs 3: Paws Unite!” is a family film and a film that children (who love cats and dogs) can easily enjoy!
PURCHASE THIS BLU-RAY ON AMAZON