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SPY CAT
(2018, Lauenstein & Lauenstein)



"We're just a bunch of losers."

Spy Cat follows Marnie, a tabby cat that is often pampered by her owner Rosalinde. She spends most of her days eating special foods and watching detective TV shows, dreaming of an adventure some day. Her adventure comes in the form of Phil, the uncle of Rosalinde who pretends to be wheelchair-bound while moonlighting as a thief in the neighborhood. When Marnie catches him off guard, he tricks her into thinking he's a detective and recruits her to "help" him by sending her away. As she makes her way back, she makes friends with "a bunch of losers" that might help her catch Phil.

Obviously this was a watch mostly for the kids, but as usual, I sat down and watched it as well. Most of the fun comes from the odd pairing of this "bunch of losers". The gang is comprised of Elvis, a grumpy abused pitbull running from home; Eggbert, a neurotic rooster trying to escape from being cooked; and Anton, a donkey that dreams of joining a circus by pretending to be a zebra. As is expected, they are pretty one-dimensional, but they all have fairly distinctive qualities that make the kids root for them.

Uncle Phil's plan is a bit nonsensical, and a lot of it seems like just loosely connected setpieces. But there was some fun to them, plus the back-and-forth between the characters was enjoyable. What's most important, the kids were laughing at it. Since being a parent, I've sat down for far worse films. Spy Cat might not be a clear winner for me, but it's also far from being a loser.

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