G-Force (2009)

User Rating:

4.7/10   

Director:

Hoyt Yeatman

Writers (WGA):

Cormac Wibberley (screenplay) &
Marianne Wibberley (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

24 July 2009 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Family | Fantasy

Tagline:

Gadgets, Gizmos, Guinea Pigs. In 3-D.

Plot:

A specially trained squad of guinea pigs is dispatched to stop a diabolical billionaire from taking over the world.

Plot Keywords:

Guinea Pig | Secret Agent | Disney Animated Feature | Talking Animal | 3D

Cast

Bill Nighy	...	Leonard Saber
Sam Rockwell	...	Darwin (voice)
Will Arnett	...	Kip Killian
Jon Favreau	...	Hurley (voice)
Zach Galifianakis	...	Ben
Nicolas Cage	...	Speckles (voice)
Kelli Garner	...	Marcie
Penélope Cruz	...	Juarez (voice)
Tyler Patrick Jones	...	Connor
Steve Buscemi	...	Bucky (voice)
Piper Mackenzie Harris	...	Penny
Gabriel Casseus	...	Agent Trigstad
Tracy Morgan	...	Blaster (voice)
Jack Conley	...	Agent Carter
Niecy Nash	...	Rosalita

MPAA:

Rated PG for some mild action and rude humor.

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

USA:PG (certificate #45360) | Ireland:PG | Canada:G (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Quebec) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | New Zealand:PG | Argentina:Atp | Finland:K-7 | Iceland:L | Singapore:G | Norway:7 | Netherlands:6 | Taiwan:GP | Mexico:AA | Hong Kong:I | Sweden:7 | Germany:6 | Denmark:7 | South Africa:PG | UK:PG | Portugal:M/6 | Australia:PG | Japan:G | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | Philippines:G (MTRCB)

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Jerry Bruckheimer Films

Trivia:

For the Digital 3D presentation, the film was projected in 1.85:1 aspect ratio, with the original 2.39:1 (Cinemascope) aspect ratio letter-boxed. This allowed objects to move beyond the normal frame boundaries and (in theory) enhance the 3D depth effect.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When Darwin asks Juarez "how many hours have you put in that simulator?" she responds: "Two Hundred... thousand". Two hundred thousand hours is approximately 23 years. A properly cared for guinea pig can live up to nine years, with the average being five to seven years. (Maybe they would have lived longer if were genetically engineered, but Ben clearly tells them that they are not.)

Quotes:

[Men are like government bonds: they take way too long to mature but if you're a woman trying to make it in a man's world you have to learn to speak like they do and keep them guessing]

Movie Connections:

References Old Yeller (1957)

Soundtrack:

Just Dance

Family Friendly Adventure, Just Lacks Laughs.

G-Force is a specially trained team of guinea pigs, a mole and a fly. They must foil the plans of Saber, a millionaire, who wants to take over the world with these home appliances that ultimately transform into Megatron. Or something along those lines.

I watched this one because it was available in 3-D. My first Disney Digital 3-d film. From the aspect, the kids will enjoy the things that pop out at you. This film has a few of those moments, water, debris and glass. Although it just didn't do it for me. The 3-D in this film didn't enhance the film or astonish me. Thus, it ultimately feels like a gimmick and will until a certain film that is planned to be released in the near future apparently plans to change that. I'm not saying it wasn't well done, I just expected more.

The film is mixed animation and live action. The animation is obviously the rodents and insects, while the cast is formed of Hangover star Zach Galifianakis, Will Arnett and Bill Nighy. Galifianakis is really timid here and Nighy does his whole British thing, while Arnett plays the G-Rated version of an A-hole. Nothing memorable, and the kids won't care about these people. They want to see the funny guinea pigs do funny things. Yet, in the theatre I was in, which was full of kids, had hardly any laughs. That's not to say they won't enjoy themselves, because the film is entertaining. It's just not that great a comedy.

The voice acting is great, Sam Rockwell plays Darwin, the lead commando. Tracy Morgan is Blaster, if anyone has seen him on 30 Rock, it's the same here. Penelope Cruz is the female character, who toys with the boys on which one she likes. Nicolas Cage plays Speckles, the mole who is a tech whiz. In this film if you did not know it was Cage playing this character, you would never know it was him. The voice is so different that is makes you scratch your head, well done on all parts.

The child favourite without a doubt is Hurley, the guinea pig that our team meets in a pet shop. He has a bad case of flatulence and is the 'dumb' friendly character. He gets the most laughs, which like I said, wasn't many. Finally Steve Buscemi has a small role as a hamster and he plays it exactly as you would picture Buscemi to play it. The voice work from everyone was top notch, but if I were to hand it to anyone, it wold be cage for his transformation to the unknown.

The animation is well done, the final action sequence does feel like it comes straight out of transformers, but it looks neat. The interaction between human and creature is still noticeably fake, even after all these years they can't seem to perfect this. Since this is a Bruckheimer film, you know there has to be non-stop action. This involves car chases left right and centre, covert-operations and battles with giant creatures. The film is fuel injected to the bone with this. There are moments here and there to slow everything down, yet they are extremely short and don't seem to do much to create conflict for the characters. When the guinea pigs are told they aren't special, they get doubt themselves, this lasts all but one scene because in the next they get a pep talk and are back to the chase sequences.

The plot is one that we've all seen before. Unlikely heroes stopping someone from world domination. So don't expect anything new in the story department. The reveal at the end is lame and predictable, the whole bad guy plan is extremely far fetched and doesn't make sense. Although if you're expecting this film to make sense I guess you're in the wrong theatre. These are talking guinea pigs after all.

The film is entertaining and the kids will most likely enjoy it. It does seem like a typical Hollywood kid flick and it is exactly that. There's no life lessons learned and by the end of the film your kid will want a new pet.