The House Of Magic review

Cat power

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Cute cats rule in Ben Stassen and Jeremy Degruson’s kiddy-mation, a romp that compensates for its fluffy simplicity with sweetness, generosity and 3D ingenuity. Our hero is moggy Thunder (Murray Blue), whose attempt to move into ageing magician Lawrence’s (Doug Stone) contraption-littered old abode leads to wars of attrition with a territorial bunny and Lawrence’s weasely nephew, who schemes to sell the crumbly pile.

If the empathy for society’s outsiders pleases, Lawrence’s mechanised menagerie and the directors’ stereoscopic smarts entertain most: the rollercoaster cat’s-eye views and a kitchen-based battle make stuff-flying-at-you 3D look fun again.

Freelance writer

Kevin Harley is a freelance journalist with bylines at Total Film, Radio Times, The List, and others, specializing in film and music coverage. He can most commonly be found writing movie reviews and previews at GamesRadar+. 

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