I hated the trailers for this movie. I love Dr. Seuss, but I dreaded every time they showed the trailer for the new animated Cat in the Hat film featuring Bill Hader as the feline protagonist. It made me really not want to see the film. I just did not want to go see it. Nevertheless, I put aside my lack of anticipation and went to Cinemark tonight to see the new film.

Unexpectedly, I found myself enjoying the movie.

While it was nowhere near as epic as some of the other animated movies this year, I was entertained by the movie. Perhaps it was because my expectations were so low heading into it that I thought the new Cat in the Hat was worthwhile.

Cat in the Hat (Bill Hader) was here with shenanigans as he was given one final chance to show that he could help his clients raise their emotional stakes without causing complete chaos. He wound up with a family who had moved to a new neighborhood and the young girl Gabby (Xochitl Gomez) was struggling with the transition. The Cat in the Hat brought his own brand of kookiness into Gabby’s and her brother Sebastian’s (Tiago Martinez) world.

The voice cast was interesting as it included America Ferrera, Giancarlo Esposito, Paula Pell, Matt Berry (who was Laszlo from What We Do in the Shadows- a voice that I was trying to place all through the movie), Tituss Burgess, Bowen Yang, Ryan Gaffney, and the late, great Eric Bauza.

There are some creative montages in the movie. The look of it is spectacular. I liked the ideas behind much of the film. The concept of the Cat in the Hat singing his own theme song through the movie was funny. The story did have some heart to it and I appreciated the effort it gave to make it as emotional that it was.

The story itself was rather messy, and the character of the Cat in the Hat felt inconsistent at times. There were times where it seemed as if the Cat in the Hat had his own secret agenda when it came to Gabby and it seemed as if the Cat knew what he was doing. However, there were a couple of times when the movie explained to us that the Cat was doing the stuff he was doing for his own benefit, and that never came across in the film. That bit of storytelling was confusing.

The whole stuff with Mr. Hoogeboom (Giancarlo Esposito) made little sense and did not seem to really give any reason for the choices that were made. Everything about the company that Cat in the Hat worked for did not work well for me.

Still, overall, I thought this was an entertaining way to spend a early Friday evening. I do believe that I entered with such low expectations that the movie couldn’t help but exceed them. However, exceed them, it did. It may not be on the level of a Wildwood, Toy Story 5, Hoppers, Forgotten Island or Coyote vs. Acme, but it is definitely better than Goat or Super Mario Galaxy Movie.

I also want to shout out to the short that led off the film, “Daffy Season.” It was starting the Looney Tunes, especially Daffy Duck, who wanted the attention of Duck Season, only to find Elmer Fudd entranced by soccer season. Seeing the Looney Tunes characters back in these shorts was such a treat, although, again, it made me sad thinking about the loss of Eric Bauza as this will be his final voice performance.

3.4 stars