Guinea pig spy flick flops

G-Force reviews are out and the consensus is: cool idea, great visual execution, star-studded cast, but the movie falls short of real innovation and interest. Just in case you’re not familiar with the concept: A team of three guinea pigs plus one mole are trained as federal spies. They are given voice converter devices that translate their squeaks to human voices – those of Sam Rockwell, Penelope Cruz, Tracy Morgan and Nicolas Cage.

Ben (Zach Galifianakis), the low-level government scientist who’s in charge of training and outfitting the furry spook crew with their spy paraphernalia, has also figured out how to train flies to carry teeny video cameras into small places. Ben’s got the g-force team investigating the über-wealthy industrialist Saber (Bill Nighy) who may have devilish plans to take over the world, but a few misadventures and the FBI steps in and sends the critters to live out a more fitting existence at the pet shop.

There the spies meet a kooky hamster (Steve Buscemi, part ferret?) and a gassy guinea pig (Jon Favreau) who escape with them and join the mission to stop Saber from taking over the world.

Apparently kids under 8 will enjoy the 90-minute distraction, but adults (spy-caper-loving or otherwise) may want to bring earplugs and take the op to snooze, as boiled down, the dialogue’s generic, the jokes are flat and the plot’s just your spy movie standard.