The Cat in the Hat
"The Sun did not shine. It was too wet to play." So we went to the theatre. We were happy to pay. We went to see Myers. He's usually funny. As we watched in horror, we realized we had wasted our money. This cat should not be here. He should not be about. This cat is grotesque. People walked out.
Mike Myers is arguably the funniest man alive. "So I Married an Axe Murderer" was one of the funniest movies to date. Later on he did "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery" which is another funny film. Then he started his horrible movie phase with the Austin Powers sequels. Now he continues that cycle with this film.
The movie centers around a brother and sister, the former a rule breaker who's constantly in trouble and the latter a control freak who has no friends and is a jerk to her brother. There mother is engaged to the man next door (Alec Baldwin) all the while working at a real estate outfit. The night the story takes place the mom is hosting an important office meet and greet party, and the house must remain spotless. There's an emergency at work and she has to leave the kids at home. She hires a sitter for them who shows up and quickly falls into a coma-like sleep after the mom leaves. The sitter's asleep, the mom is out at work, the fiancee is next door and he's not a nice person anyway; the kids have no one to play with. As they're staring out the window at the rain a cat (Mike Myers), in a hat, appears out of thin air to entertain them. He brings a crate with him that the kids must not open. Of course they do open the crate and all hell breaks loose.
So that's the plot, it's not important because it's a silly movie that doesn't have to adhere to a plot. The acting is flat. The scenes are gorgeous though and there are some funny parts. For the most part this is a foul movie that most would consider a waste of admission.
The studio spent 42 million dollars on computer animation and it shows. At least the animation looks how it is supposed to, not Matrix Reloaded nonsense. Anyway, back to how terrible the acting was. Mike Myers is known for his characters. From Fat Bastard, to Dr. Evil, to Charlie McKenzie, Linda Richmond, to Wayne Campbell; he is a funny man with many funny personalities. As funny as all of his personalities are, they combine in Cat to form something evil. He is overly loud, overly stupid, and becomes overly obnoxious. I was tired of the character fifteen minutes after his arrival, and that's being generous.
The sets were good, the CG was also good, and I laughed a couple of times. Without those three things this movie would have received the lowest grade possible. Even through the obnoxious actors, pathetic plot, and lack of moral fiber, it was pleasing to look at (when the characters weren't getting in the way). How The Grinch Stole Christmas was based on a book of comparable substance and was a far better film. Only the Devil knows what Brian Grazer had to do to screw up The Cat in the Hat so badly.
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for mild crude humor and some double-entendres