by Linda Kay

Directed by: Chris Bailey, Mark Koetsier, Rob Minkoff

Cat Out of the Bag Alert! This review contains some spoilers for this film!

Synopsis: Samurai movies get the Mel Brooks’ treatment via this animated feature in which a dog named Hank (voiced by Michael Cera) follows his dream to become a samurai in a land of cats.

Cartoon Cats: Ika Chu (voiced by Ricky Gervais) is an evil overlord who is making his palace pristine in anticipation of a visit from the Shogun (voiced by Mel Brooks). As he points out to his second in hand, Ohga (voiced by George Takei), the only thing keeping his residence from being perfect is the poor little town of Kakamucho which is spoiling the view. He orders Ohga to organize a gang of ruffians to wipe the town off the map.

Seeing the thugs coming, a spunky little female kitten named Emiko (voiced by Kylie Kuioka) runs to the town’s samurai for protection.

The samurai appears ready but then chickens out at the last minute.

The town is wrecked and the cats write to the Shogun to appoint a new samurai.

Unfortunately the Shogun appoints Ika Chu to choose the town’s samurai. He picks a canine prisoner named Hank who has been accused of trespassing in their land where dogs are forbidden.

Hank has come to the land to learn to be a samurai so he considers the appointment to be an opportunity. The townspeople are ready to kill Hank until Emiko finds the official decree from the Shogun declaring Hank the town’s new samurai. The cats have to accept Hank although they are not happy about it.

Hank meets Jimbo (voiced by Samuel L. Jackson), a samurai with a catnip addiction who has seen better days but agrees to train Hank, putting him through a rigorous course of exercises.

Ika Chu sends a giant cat named Sumo (voiced by Djimon Hounsou) to take care of Hank but with the help of Jimbo behind the scenes Hank appears to defeat the enemy. The towncats change their minds and consider Hank to be their hero.

Even Emiko’s mom Yuki (voiced by Michelle Yeoh) is impressed.

The success goes to Hank’s head and Ika Chu uses this to lure him away for a night on the town while the village is being destroyed by Ika Chu’s ninja. Sumo, who is now the town’s friend, is captured.

Jimbo sets out to storm Ika Chu’s palace and free Sumo, leaving Hank behind.

Determined to make things right, Hank follows Jimbo and together they work out a plan to free Sumo.

To help them escape, Jimbo stays behind and faces countless guards alone.

The towncats work together with Hank to fight off Ika Chu’s army once and for all.

Jimbo returns just when the Shogun turns up for his visit. It turns out they have some history.

This all leads to a final showdown with Ika Chu and a climax where the town is saved from being washed away.

The film, which started out as a samurai parody of Blazing Saddles (referred to as Blazing Samurai) was in production for several years and underwent various changes. The final film walks the line between kiddie and adult humor but is pretty clever and certainly loaded with cats and cat references.

One of the earliest posters for the film depicted the character of Sumo seen from behind. This gave audiences a general idea of the level of humor to expect (let’s face it, no one has ever accused Mel Brooks’ style of comedy as being sophisticated!)

The posters for the film’s release showcased the cast.

There was even a nice series of character posters released to promote the movie.

Final Mewsings: Dogs have their good points but cats are the true samurai and ninja.

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