Review: Cats and Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore 3D (U)**

It has taken nearly 10 years for this sequel to arrive, and one wonders why it took so long. For the over-abundance of CGI, special effects, gadgets and explosions can't compensate for the sheer formulaic nature of the plotting.

Okay, so it's for kids. But style has replaced substance to the extent that even the wink-wink movie references (and there are many, from Terminator 2 to Scarface by way of Mission: Impossible and the 007 series) become wearisome. And if parents will get the gags, most kids won't.

James Marsden voices Diggs, a bungling police dog recruited as a spy by a secret organisation of canines with a mission to protect humanity.

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Diggs is partnered with Butch (Nick Nolte) as the doggies are forced into a reluctant partnership with cats to stop rogue agent Kitty Galore (Bette Midler) from carrying out a nefarious plan to turn dogs against their owners.

What was original and fun nine years ago has become just an excuse to trot out more 3D gimmickry. This is a painting-by-numbers exercise in children's comedy that is top-heavy with technology and light on genuine laughs.

The central quartet of Diggs, Butch, Catherine the cat and Seamus the pigeon runs out of steam quickly because the gossamer-thin jokes rapidly wear out.

Yet the film comes alive via its villains. Midler rises to the occasion as Kitty in an OTT maniacal Bond heavy kind of way, and there is an inspired turn from Sean Hayes as the original film's bad guy, Mr Tinkles, here garbed in Hannibal Lecter attire in the bowels of Alcatraz.

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While such moments are welcome, they merely upset the balance of what could have been a much smarter film. The scattergun approach – grabbing on to any number of recognisable franchises and nudging the audience for a reaction – serves only to weaken the effect, not strengthen it.

Fans of 007 will enjoy hearing Roger Moore playing an elegant cat named Tab Lazenby, but it's Midler who emerges from this as a sinister puss with a plan for world domination.

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