G-Force
Starring Zach Galifianakis, Bill Nighy, and Will Arnett
Rated PG for some mild action and rude humor
Appropriate for all ages
When a brilliant scientist with a knack for working with rodents (Galifianakis) finds a way to work with and train a group of highly skilled guinea pigs and a mole to do top-level spy work, they go undercover in order to infiltrate the lair of a power-crazy billionaire (Nighy). When they come too close without getting the goods, the Feds pull the plug on the program, sending said guinea pigs to a pet store to become victims to childhood torture.
I am going to preface this entire review by saying that this film is obviously not for me, but it seemed that the audience, chalked full of young children, really enjoyed it. The kids couldn’t get enough of the talking animals and their antics. They were standing up, dancing, excited, and in need of less sugar and stronger ADD drugs (in my humble opinion). But nevertheless – they seemed to really be engaged and enjoying their time in the theater immensely.
So what was wrong with the film? First off, the script was pretty darn dumb and poorly executed. First off, the jokes seemed very stale. For example, Penelope Cruz’s pig Juarez makes a complaining comment about not being able to get anything off the rack due to her body shape, but then makes threats to the human girl for putting a dress on her. These sorts of jokes just weren’t well thought out. They weren’t very funny to begin with and then the inconsistencies set in. The only dialogue that worked for me was that of Tracy Morgan’s creature Blaster. He was just as funny as he is on 30 Rock, but in this case, no one around him could keep up.
The biggest disappointment, performance wise, was Galifianakis who is normally a really funny comedian. All of the human interactions with the rodents looked awkward and poorly directed, but his talents especially were underutilized and he came across dry and boring. Not a good turn considering the waves he made in The Hangover.
And while the animals all looked good on screen and the 3D (for those theaters that offer it) is of course eye-popping, I just couldn’t get excited about what I saw.
Still, if what you need is a 90-minute baby sitter, or something that will put a smile on your kid’s face, you could do worse than G-Force, but don’t expect to be blown away yourself. C