Don't listen to the negative reviews

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

Alongside Chico and Rita, this is another worthy contender for the Oscar best animation category. Unlike most other animation, this is uniquely European in terms of art and of both the physicality and the expressions exhibited from movements to geometrics and color contrasts.I believe that, concurrently with choosing such an art style, the intention is to make the whole movie slightly more one-dimensional and maximizes the potential in that regard. The plot is meant to be simple and the characters being as predictable as it should be (villains are bad & stupid, etc.). Despite being too crude or lacking advanced perceptions which would obviously boost up the script's potential for a far richer content, there is still enough entertainment value, material and the pace of the plot is quick enough to keep demanding viewers like me hooked. In fact it is superior to Chico & Rita in terms of that. Some of the scenes are very creative too. I do hope either this or Chico will win the Oscars 2012!!

At 70 minutes, "A Cat in Paris" is the little film that could. The hand-drawn animated film packs a surprising amount of action and pathos into a children's cartoon and weaves a fairly rich back story that lends heft to the battle that unfolds between a cat burglar and the cat he shares with the local police chief versus the leader of a ring of art thieves. Leave it to the French to give the older child target audience some real narrative meat to chew on - although the action can be a little rough at times and some scenes will clearly scare younger viewers. The hand-drawn animation technique amplifies the scare factor but equally amplifies the warmth factor with scenes of the Dino the cat (and cat burglar)sinuously jumping from Parisian rooftop to rooftop approaching art. While the film is mostly beautiful to look at there are some plot problems such as the movie never stopping to explain how the older, puffy antagonist can keep up with our experienced cat burglar and his feline accomplice step-for-step across the Paris skyline. Also, action scenes too heavily dominate the run-time so at times it feels like Mel Gibson action movies from the 1990's. In short, the brief run time and a lack of memorable characters recommend it to a rental rather than a $12 a kid multiplex visit but it is a charming little film.

Having most recently been seduced by Paris in The Artist and Midnight in Paris and before that in animation with The Illusionist and Triplets of Belleville, I was fully prepared to enjoy A Cat In Paris, a nominee for Best Animated Feature Oscar, worthy of the award even with competition like Chico & Rita. I was not disappointed.This cute, un-Pixar thriller depicts a cat accompanying a cat-burglar at night over the rooftops of Paris and into apartments ripe for the plucking with his accomplice, Nico (Bruno Salomone voice). The owner of the crafty cat, Zoe (Oriane Zani), lives with her chief of Police mother Jeanne (Dominique Blanc), both of whom are still mourning the loss of dad/husband at the hands of arch-villain Victor Costa (Jean Benguigui). The plot does not make this a memorable cartoon; it's the whimsical slit-eyed, long-nosed eccentrics who inhabit the flat pastel world, slim on speech and graceful even when they're thugs. It's a fantasy of our imagination, what we dream Paris would be like in a better world, even with burglars and mobsters.An interesting touch is to make the cat tough rather than tender and Zoe mute for the shock of her father's death. The tonal shifts between that darkness and then silly thugs and a sweet cat burglar, who doesn't seem to be punished for his crime, will make this a problematic choice for kids, who might not get it. Parents may find it difficult to decide if this is a thriller or a comedy as well. For me, it's just the exotic world of Paris in my imagination. Nothing beats swinging over the rooftops at anytime with anyone, even a mischievous cat.

Will it change my life? No. Did half the cinema laugh out loud on several occasions? Yes Did I look at my watch during the film? Not once Will I remember it? Definitely the visuals, maybe not the plot Will I recommend others to see it? I already have Did anything annoy me (even the way feet were drawn)? No Did I come out smiling? Definitely Were the characters well-drawn? Cat yes, little girl yes, gangstas rudimentary (but fun) mum, a bit of a cliché but who cares Plot? Serious novelists don't need to feel threatened but it hung together nicely within its own parameters. So... a rather sweet film, funny, uplifting, eye candy, feelgood. For serious film buffs? Depends how seriously they take themselves. I defy anybody not to enjoy this movie. Oh, and I hope someone repairs Notre Dame.