Guinea Pigs Invade Government Work Force

G-Force is a Disney animated film that has a mixture of live characters. It’s produced by Jerry Bruckheimer who is bringing his first 3D film to the big screen. The storyline centers on the actor,Zach Galifianakis, (the bearded, wacky guy in “The Hangover”) as a special agent who has trained animals (especially guinea pigs) to work as undercover espionage spies for the United States government. G-Force is the name of the specially trained guinea pigs armed with the latest high-tech spy equipment. Their names are Darwin (voiced by Sam Rockwell), the squad leader determined to succeed at all costs, Blaster (voiced by Tracy Morgan), an outrageous weapons expert with plenty of attitude and a flair for all things extreme and Juarez (voiced by Penelope Cruz), the only girl in the group who is trained in martial arts.

British actor, Bill Nighy, plays (Lenard Saber) the token bad guy who wants to take over the world with programmed household appliances. The story-line centers on if the guinea pigs can prove that they can do the job as the government wants to shut their operation down.

We do view the G-Force in action and they aren’t too bad at what they are attempting to do. They do have an advantage due to their size as they can quickly get in and out of places that are much harder for adults. The little creatures take their jobs very seriously and truly want to help and feel important. This message rings through loud and clear and it’s not a bad one especially for kids!

The main FBI representative, Will Arnett, who acts ‘bored to tears’ and doesn't approve of this unusual project, sends his agents out to shut them down. Unfortunately, this dislike for the ‘furry lot’ is never fully explained. All we know is that he has a strong dislike to the little rascals and that’s one of the weak points with the script. You need to know up front that this film was written for kids with plenty of kid humor. The jokes are short and very simple.

The guinea pigs are cute and kids will especially like the scene with the remote control car as Blaster (Tracey Morgan) is very comical in this role. He drives the car recklessly down the street in a quiet neighborhood. Kids were laughing during this part and it is amusing. Another funny scene is when a little girl who buys Juarez at the Pet Shop tries to dress Penelope Cruz’s character ( a tomboy at heart ) in a dress, pearls and lipstick. We hear the irritated guinea pig shout, “I don’t want to be guinea pig Barbie!”

The animation is not of the Pixar quality, but the mixture of actors and guinea pigs works and does keep kids attention; just don’t expect anything too elaborate. I would not recommend this film for adults unless they go with kids as the story line is very thin. “G-Force” is a good film for elementary school age children. Kids will especially love the dancing scene at the end!

Sarah Adamson © 2009