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Blazing Saddles’ family-friendly feline makeover gives paws for thought

Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank (PG, 102 mins)

Directed by Chris Bailey, Mark Koetsier, Rob Minkoff

Reviewed by James Croot ★★★

‘What the mother father cocker spaniel is going on here?’’ As shameful as it might be to admit, on a number of levels, this has been the go-to exclamation in our household ever since the trailer for this animated adventure dropped some months ago.

The fact that the line is uttered by the notoriously profane Samuel L Jackson while he’s voicing a giant samurai cat just adds to its cultural cachet and subversiveness.

Parents, you’ll be pleased to know there’s no bait-and-switch going on with the resulting feature-length movie (‘‘all 85 minutes long, not including the end credits’’, as this self-reflexive, self-effacing tale reminds us more than once). It is as anarchic, boundary-pushing and scattershotly madcap as a film for kids can get.

In this story, set in a world where cats are king, one small town is in danger.

Preparing for a visit from the Shogun (Mel Brooks), the ambitious and nefarious Ika Chu (Ricky Gervais) has spared no expense in making his palace the grandest in the land.

‘‘I’ve imported mice to chase, fine couches to ruin. I even got the first- and second-largest balls of yarn in the world,’’ he boasts.

There’s just one problem: the eyesore that is the ancient settlement of

Kakamucho. A blot on his otherwise gorgeous vista, Ika Chu is keen to wipe it and its 248 inhabitants off the map.

After an incursion puts paid to their cowardly Samurai, Ika Chu gleefully prepares to conduct a forced relocation, only to discover the Shogun wants to ensure its protection. Fortunately, Ika Chu has a plan B: commute the death sentence he plans to carry out on a dog who crossed into their country illegally and install him as Kakamucho’s samurai.

For that canine, Hank (Michael Cera), it feels like a dream come true, but Ika Chu knows full well the reception he’ll get – and it won’t be pretty.

If that all sounds vaguely familiar, that’s because it is. This is essentially a slightly more family-friendly animated remake of Mel Brooks’ 1974 classic comedy Blazing Saddles (its original title was Blazing Samurai). While there’s no musical number to rival the incomparable I’m Tired, this boasts the same freewheeling, genre-busting spirit, plenty of slap and schtick and even a sequence to rival Blazing’s infamous baked beans scene.

However, you can also see the result of this film’s seven-year gestation period, three directors and seven writers – it feels like a series of set pieces rather than a truly compelling whole, and some of the cat jokes feel lazy and less than convincing.

Jackson, Cera and Gervais aside, the impressive vocal ensemble also feels somewhat under-utilised. Michelle Yeoh, George Takei and Djimon Hounsou are among those saddled with rather thinly sketched characters.

Despite that, there’s arguably enough action, visual, verbal and scatological gags to keep the kids entertained, and Brooks’ fans should be more than satisfied and champing at the bit for the day they will be able to show their young charges the truly nutty original that inspired this.

Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank is now screening in cinemas nationwide.

Entertainment

en-nz

2022-10-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-10-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://fairfaxmedia.pressreader.com/article/282003266305808

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