“Up” has raised the bar for movies, animated ones in particular, so high that most are found wanting. Such is the case with “G Force.” You would think that you could create a decent movie out of talking super agent guinea pigs, complete with tiny night-vision goggles and jet-propelled grappling hooks. Although “G Force” looks great and moves fast, it has a weak story and no characterization. Specially trained guinea pigs, Darwin (voiced by Sam Rockwell), Juarez (Penelope Cruz) and Blaster (Tracy Morgan) along with a tech-savvy mole (Nicolas Cage) and a buzzing, micro-camera-laden fly try to bring down arms dealer Leonard Saber (Bill Nighy). Unfortunately, when a late night foray to Saber’s mansion yields nothing, the FBI shuts down their program and sends them to a pet store, where they must find a way to break out and stop Saber from world domination.
This sounds good … on paper. Unfortunately, the dialogue offers nothing creative. The guinea pigs utter clichés and stock phrases and even their handler, Zach Galifianakis, fresh from his success in “The Hangover,” is curiously flat. And the script, with its high-speed chases, random explosions, and fart jokes, is a mishmash of everything, including a “Transformers” rip-off sequence at the end of the film. The only bright spot is an aggressive hamster (Steve Buscemi), who maintains that he’s not part ferret. Just about everyone, children included, will find this film lacking. 7/28/09
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