G-Force (2009)
Directed by Hoyt H Yeatman Jr.
Written by Cormac Wibberly, Marianne Wibberly
Starring Zach Galifianakis, Nicolas Cage, Penelope Cruz, Tracy Morgan, Will Arnett, Steve Buscemi
Release Date July 24th, 2009
Published July 23rd, 2009
The star of The Hangover, the foul mouthed lowbrow road comedy sensation of summer 2009, Zach Galifianakis, changes gears completely in the family adventure comedy, G-Force. Going from debauchery in Vegas to daring do alongside computer generated guinea pigs, Galifianakis may have one of the most successful and schizophrenic summer movie seasons of any actor ever.
In G-Force Zach Galifianakis plays Ben, the head scientist in a secret government lab that trains animals as spies. Ben started by training cockroaches to carry bugging devices (HA!). His greatest breakthrough however is inventing a way for guinea pigs to speak and then perform tasks. Sending them into the field for the first time, Ben has G-Force, as they come to be called, infiltrate the home of a wealthy industrialist (Bill Nighy) with alleged ambitions for taking over the world. G-Force is made up of Darwin (Sam Rockwell), Blaster (Tracy Morgan), Juarez (Penelope Cruz) and Speckles (Nicolas Cage). Speckles is a mole and a computer expert.
G-Force unfortunately fails their first mission. The evidence they thought they found was corrupted. This leads to the team being taken away from Ben and the whole operation getting shutdown by Agent Killian (Will Arnett). G-Force ends up in a pet shop but eventually their training kicks in and they are soon back on the case, even as their own government chases them down. Will they stop the tycoon from taking over the world? Do you care?
OK. You likely don't care and neither, really, will the target audience of children. What matters in G-Force are the little pleasures like a touch of the lowbrow humor, a waste of time car chase involving giant SUVs and tiny plastic hamster balls, and the sight of star Zach Galifianakis so convincingly interacting with CGI rodents.
G-Force, as most kids movies these days, is in 3D and while it adds very little to the proceedings, G-Force at least can slightly justify the use with some big time, flying at the screen action set pieces. The 3D isn't as forced as a lot of the modern 3D films and because G-Force is not a colorful or visually dynamic movie the 3D doesn't harm the experience like it did with animated films like Coraline and Up.
Is G-Force a good movie? Eh, not really. But, by the lowered standards of the kiddie flick it's not bad. Zach Galifianakis makes the most of his limited screen time and he's become a very welcome presence in movies. Bottom line is, as 3D kiddie fare goes, I can recommend G-Force even if I have already begun to forget it.
