Paws of Fury is just as average as animated movies go. While there are a few jokes in this movie that made me laugh, this isn’t something I would watch unless I was putting it on for a younger kid. Paws of Fury is the unmistakable remake of the movie Blazing Saddles, but the characters have been reskinned to samurai cats, and the jokes are designed for kids. It isn’t bad, but if you have seen Blazing Saddles, you would much rather. This is a beat-for-beat remake with an added underdog narrative that honestly hurts the overall experience.
I don’t like the underdog story that this turns into because it is generic and bland. It reminds me of Kung Fu Panda, and I would rather be watching that. I wish they would have taken out the underdog story and kept it as a remake but with better voice acting. The voice acting is fine for the most part, but there are some bad line reads that are hard to overlook. I would have preferred real voice actors instead of name-brand actors, but the better voice acting isn’t saving this movie. This movie is very bland, and I am having trouble with this review. It didn’t leave much of an impression, and I don’t want to spend my time unfairly comparing this movie to its much better predecessor.
As a kids’ movie, it is fine. I have seen a lot worse. You won’t hate this movie if you have to sit through it. You will at least appreciate all the references. I do like that they address a lot of the important themes from Blazing Saddles, such as racism and government corruption. I also appreciate how they modernized the source material, but this only proves how timeless Blazing Saddles is. You should be watching Blazing Saddles instead.
The unavoidable truth is that this movie was made for kids that is held back by its genre. If you are looking for something to through on for family movie night, this movie is fine; otherwise, there are better animated movies out there. You can stream it now on Paramount+.