G force

Despite a fabulous cast of voice actors and pretty CGI animation, G-Force fails to deliver to both adults and children.

Being the first 3-D film from producer Jerry Bruckheimer, Disney Digital 3-D technology is also utilised for the first time in a live-action movie. Sadly, the focus seemed to be on showing off this technology that Disney has, instead of delivering a good, strong storyline that demands a more natural and emotional response from the audience.

G-Force is about a team of small household rodents whose hearts are bigger than their physical size. Told in the classic save-the-world-from-evil fashion, these furry little animals take the form of secret agents who fend off the schemes of the villainous technological magnate Saber (Bill Nighy).

Given that it features fearless (or brainless) guinea pig team leader Darwin (Sam Rockwell), flirtatious Juarez (Penelope Cruz), rock’n’roll Blaster (Tracy Morgan) who’s always blasting his music and Speckles the mole (Nicolas Cage), you’d totally expect to enjoy this family entertainment fare by Walt Disney Pictures.

Indeed the top-notch animation and CGI were enough to wow the audience, but the human element should have been scrapped altogether, by replacing Ben the human team leader (Zach Galifianakis) with an animated character instead. It was very distracting to look at CGI hamsters one moment and humans the next.

It didn’t take long for disappointment to surface. Barely 5 minutes into the movie, the entire plot was practically out on the table. Without suspense, there wasn’t any excitement remaining when you already know that a bunch of furballs were going to save the world.

Moreover, the film is full of slapstick humour that probably only adults would understand. Such is the case with lines like “I hate it when my fly is down” or “Kids, don’t try this at home”, and these cheesy lines that tend to be inappropriate and confusing to children don’t amuse grown-ups either.

Compared to previous Disney films such as Finding Nemo and WALL-E (both have won various awards such as Best Animated Feature from the Academy Awards and Hollywood Film Festival’s Animation of the Year), G-Force lacks in character development and relating of moral values. Most animated films catered for children show a big contrast between the villains and the heroes so as to more clearly convey a sense of right and wrong to the young. However, G-Force presents the bad guy as a mole out to destroy the world of humans because his environment was destroyed, and as soon as you recognise Saber as an evil furry thing, he repents.

However, this UrbanWire reviewer finally managed a smile after all the substandard jokes.  The amusement though wasn’t because of the humour, but at how Walt Disney had spent so much only for this film to be a flop. Families who have watched this are unlikely go back for a second time as the entertainment value was unsatisfactory and the plot was not engaging. And there weren’t even many people watching this film on its opening day, with the theatre was less than a quarter filled.

Seriously, if producer Jerry Bruckheimer has a beloved hamster, he should just keep it in his home and off the big screens.

Rating: 1/5

Cast: Nicolas Cage, Steve Buscemi, Will Amett

Director: Hoyt Yeatman

Producer: Jerry Bruckheimer

Genre: Action / Adventure

Language: English

Release Date : Sep 4 2009

Run Time: 88 minutes