4 out of 5

Director: Brad Peyton

This is more along the lines of what I was expecting the first to be – over-reliant on completely CGI animals, too many simple puns, and many, many references to butt-sniffing. Thankfully, while the plot isn’t as creative as the first movie, the sense of parody is kept well in tact, and the humor still well-layered enough to keep adults laughing out loud at several scenes of this. If you saw the first one, then you’ll notice one big difference in the animals here – eye correction. While I’m not a fan of how much was CGI, the fact that the animal’s eyes now connect with their conversation partners is pretty awesome and adds to the “reality.” …The reality of evil Kitty Galore shunning both cat and dog alike to spin a world domination scheme. This prompts… forfend… spy cats and spy dogs teaming up to stop her. It’s all purposefully over-the-top and nabs many great references to Bond villains and tropes, but the outlandishness lacks some of the cartoon zing of movie one, seeming more like a typical kid’s action movie with CGI pets. But big points are earned back for the actor’s characterizations of the animals as well as most of the funniest jokes coming through dialogue, which is uncommon for kid’s movies. And the action scenes, while prepped for 3D, are a fun addition to the pot. So it is what is is… a typical over-saturated kid’s CGI movie that’s paved over with the great premise from movie one and the same layering of smart dialogue. This might dip below four stars at points, but I just have to harken back to the hilarious opening credits and then I’m back on board.