What is it with French childrens cartoons and having no chill? A Cat in Paris is dark, man, and somewhat frightening in the real sense. Spoilers on that below.
The story follows Zoe, a girl that recently lost her father. But she has gained a friend that happens to be a stray cat. It just so happens that the cat is also friends with a cat burglar across the street. This is a movie of crime and escape over the Paris rooftops. It’s drawn in a 2d style with some accentuated movements. The cat burglar pretty much flows like water.
This is actually a short and simple movie, so I won’t have that much to say. It gets right into the action. Actually, it drops the viewer off in the middle what’s going on with Zoe’s home life. The focus on the main characters and lack of side plots leads to a streamlined movie. I can get behind that.
The Cat, Dino, is the cause for the entire adventure, so I guess it’s fitting he’s the title character. It’s a charming little movie that makes some compelling characters despite it’s low runtime. Somehow, it makes a goofy yet really dangerous main antagonist.
This movie is worth the watch. At just over an hour long, including credits, I enjoyed pretty much all of it.
Now for some spoiler thoughts.
France! Your kids movies have no chill! Instead of some symbolic bad guy or monster, the bad guy of this film is a straight up criminal that has no qualms about killing. And what’s even scarier is having your parents not understand you no matter how much you want them to, and that only leads to even more dangerous situations.
As a young kid, this movie would be scary in the realest of ways.
What happens in the movie just makes you feel really sorry for all of the good characters involved. It does that really well.
Reid Finn 