Disney does '90s Nickelodeon. Who made that decision? Giving the story lead to the violently unlikable David Spade. Who made that decision? As indicated by those two opening points, much about this piece indicates that the concept was flawed from the start. For instance, aping the style of '90s-era Nickelodeon. Huh? Disney was coming off a run of (mostly) wild successes, so why try to match the arch and ironic style of (arguably, if not objectively) one of their less successful rivals? While one must admit there are some good comedic moments to be had in this presentation, they are scattered and hardly constitute the makings of a fully enjoyable film. Most of these characters are not merely ironic but actually downright unlikable, to pretty much the same extent, whether you’re looking at the villains or the putative protagonists. In movies, that's generally not going to work out well. The zaniness scores in some scenes--the diner scene is excellence in miniature--but in other moments it comes across as contrived. The family scenes, featuring Pacha's kids, mostly drive home the point that children are odious--not a message one usually associates with the work of this company. Also, the animation here is just okay--better than I could do, for sure, but not exactly up to the standard of a studio that is legendary for such work. Lastly, while the opening song is amusing--thanks largely to Tom Jones’ efforts, and some clever lyrics--this isn’t really a musical, so there aren’t many points scored there, either. (The inevitable closing song by Sting, far from being a chart-topper, is drab and forgettable.) It would be unfair to characterize this flick as a disaster--that albatross hangs around the neck of the next film in the line--but this one’s MEOW is among the quietest in the series.
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