Rating: PG
Starring:
Bill Nighy as Leonard Saber
Sam Rockwell as Darwin (voice)
Will Arnett as Kip Killian
Jon Favreau as Hurley (voice)
Zach Galifianakis as Ben
Nicolas Cage as Speckles (voice)
Kelli Garner as Marcie
Penélope Cruz as Juarez (voice)
Tyler Patrick Jones as Connor
Steve Buscemi as Bucky (voice)
Piper Mackenzie Harris as Penny
Gabriel Casseus as Agent Trigstad
Tracy Morgan as Blaster (voice)
Jack Conley as Agent Carter
Niecy Nash as Rosalita
Special Features:
Exclusive To Disney Blu-ray:
– Cine-Explore With Darwin, Blaster And Their Creator
– Bruckheimer Animated: A Look Back At His CG Work
– Inside The Animation Lab
G-Farce: Bloopers & Flubs
Deleted Scenes
Music Videos
Blaster’s Boot Camp: High-Tech Training
G-Force Mastermind: Inspiration Behind The Movie
Includes Standard DVD Of “G-Force”
Includes Digital Copy Of “G-Force” For Portable Media Players
Other Info:
Widescreen (2.40:1)
DTs-HD MA 5.1 Sound
Spanish and French Languages
Spanish and French Subtitles
Running Time: 88 Minutes
The Details:
The following is the official description of the film:
“Buckle up for thrilling edge-of-your seat action and laugh-out-loud fun in Disney’s family comedy adventure ‘G-Force.’
Just as the G-Force – an elite team of highly trained guinea pigs – is about to save the world, the F.B.I. shuts the secret unit down. But these next-generation action heroes – Darwin, loyal team leader; Blaster, weapons expert with attitude to spare; Juarez, drop-dead gorgeous martial arts diva; and tag-along Hurley – won’t be stopped. Armed with the latest in high-tech spy equipment, and with the F.B.I. on their tails, the fur flies as they race against the clock to save the world. From the producer of the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ trilogy and ‘National Treasure,’ and filled with high-octane action, daredevil stunts, cutting edge special effects and outrageous comedy, ‘G-Force’ is fantastic fun for the whole family.”
“G-Force” is rated PG for some mild action and rude humor.
The Movie:
While producer Jerry Bruckheimer’s name on a project creates certain expectations, Disney was wise to avoid declaring this new talking animal action-comedy as being “from the creators of ‘Kangaroo Jack,'” since that wouldn’t be doing the movie any favors. Instead, they’ve focused on the superior though not exactly original premise–comic book writer Grant Morrison explored similar ideas in his comic “WE3”–and the action, which is on par with many of Bruckheimer’s previous films. First-time director Hoyt Yeatman’s background as an FX specialist is evident as is his eye for detail in making a movie that effectively blends the CG creatures with their environment and the human characters, taking full advantage of advancements in CG and 3D technology since Bruckheimer’s previous talking animal movie.
As far as voicing those critters, Sam Rockwell does a commendable job bringing his usual charm to team leader Darwin, and Tracy Morgan is funny enough as Blaster, though not doing anything drastically different from his character on “30 Rock.” Penélope Cruz’s weak English isn’t as big a problem as she voices Juarez, a sexy martial arts expert caught in a love triangle between Darwin and Blaster. (No, I never realized guinea pigs were monogamous either.) Nicolas Cage’s voice is almost recognizable as the team’s computer-hacking mole Speckles, and the same can be said for Jon Favreau as the voice of Hurley, a fluffy and spikey-haired pet shop gerbil who starts the ball rolling for the movie to go fairly low-brow with lots of fart and poop jokes for younger kids who will still find that kind of thing funny. As might be expected the actors playing normal humans don’t have nearly as much to do with Zach Galifianakis (“The Hangover”) playing the role of “Ben, G-Force trainer” as straight as humanly possible to not detract from the scene-stealing rodents. Bill Nighy also seems to be phoning in his latest baddie role as corporate mogul Leonard Saber, which is a shame since it makes it that much more obvious how many of those involved with this project were just in it for the paycheck.
The characters do grow on you for the most part, and there’s quite a lot of cool stuff like when hundreds of household electronics come to life and form a giant “Transformers”-like robot, which actually is better than the similar ideas in Michael Bay’s movie. The action’s solid. Unfortunately, coming so soon after the eerily similar “Bolt” and that movie’s own hilarious hamster Rhino, “G-Force” doesn’t quite stand up. It’s certainly surprising enough that “G-Force” is not completely awful although it dips its toes into the easy territory of potty humor too many times to be forgiven. That said, as a movie for kids, “G-Force” delivers on the things they’ll enjoy and grown-up chaperones will just have to grit their teeth a lot.
The Extras:
The Blu-ray also happens to come with a DVD version of the film and a digital copy of the movie for portable devices. So no matter how you want to watch “G-Force,” you’re covered (well, except for getting to watch it in 3-D).
Exclusive to the Blu-ray you’ll find the feature called “Cine-Explore With Darwin, Blaster And Their Creator.” As you watch the film, little picture in picture windows pop up showing storyboards, commentary by cast and crew, animatics, and more. Videos also pop up discussing the G-Force gadgetry, the fly-eye view, and more about the making of the movie. Sam Rockwell and Tracy Morgan occasionally pop in as Blaster and Darwin and provide brief commentary along with the director. “Bruckheimer Animated: A Look Back At His CG Work” is a short video showing clips from “Pearl Harbor,” “Pirates of the Caribbean,” “The Rock,” and other Bruckheimer movies featuring a lot of CGI. “Inside The Animation Lab” is a tour of Sony Imageworks and it includes interviews with the animators. They show how they animated some of the scenes from the films.
Other bonus features include “G-Farce: Bloopers & Flubs,” six minutes of Deleted Scenes, three music videos, and a review of the G-Force technology with Blaster. Finally, “G-Force Mastermind: Inspiration Behind The Movie” describes how Hoyt Yeatman’s son came up with the initial idea for “G-Force” after telling a story about their class hamster.
