16
Watching these videos of actual cats, all of whom have racked up countless views on YouTube, just serves to underscore how unfunny and neutered Nine Lives actually is.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
50
Yes, Nine Lives is dumb. Yes, it’s for very young kids. Yes, Lil Bub has a cameo. And yes, I giggled anyway.
30
In addition to listless direction from Sonnenfeld, and an overall feeling of cheapness and carelessness, Nine Lives also suffers from incoherence.
25
Cats may have nine lives, but you only get one, and it’s too precious to waste on this drivel.
25
The A.V. Club by Ignatiy Vishnevetsky
Boasting no less than five credited screenwriters, the film is like an exquisite-corpse exercise in kiddie-movie plotting.
10
The Hollywood Reporter by John DeFore
This is a family movie about cats? Please, somebody tell the three separate teams of screenwriters credited with penning this thing.
10
The New York Times by Neil Genzlinger
The film, derivative (see “The Shaggy Dog” of 2006) and devoid of wit, is about that tiredest of kid-movie clichés, the parent who is too busy for his children and must be taught a lesson.
20
Nine Lives is a lot like a cat: It occasionally bestirs itself, and it would like to be stroked with love, but mostly it just sits there. It’s a pet farce so flat it makes you long for the Lubitsch touch of the “Alvin” comedies.
0
Rolling Stone by Peter Travers
At 87 torturous, laugh-free minutes, the film could change the most avid cat fancier into a kitty hater.
0
RogerEbert.com by Susan Wloszczyna
Let’s just say I have been to wakes that have elicited more laughs.