Common Sense Media Review
By Tom Cassidy
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Cartoon cat origin story is mean-spirited, joyless, violent.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 9+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Top Cat Begins
What's the Story?
TOP CAT BEGINS tells the story of how Top Cat (voiced by Jason Harris) became a con artist, met his gang of cat accomplices, and came to face his foe, Mr. Big (Darin De Paul).
Is It Any Good?
This miserable movie is irredeemably bad. Directed by Andrés Couturier, Top Cat Beginshates women, men, cats, dogs, children, unhoused people, the LGBTQ+ community, orphans, nuns, the police, and pretty much everything else it features. It's rare to find a truly joyless children's movie but Top Cat Begins proves it's possible. Couturier and his screenwriters have no idea of tone. Explicit movie references include Reservoir Dogs, Psycho, and The Exorcist, three films most children have never seen, and for good reason. These references aren't clever asides for a knowing adult audience. It's the entire intro to Reservoir Dogs, complete with the whole of Little Green Bag. As for The Exorcist reference, a character appears possessed, twists his head round 180 degrees and spits goo in the face of another. What could any of this possibly mean to children watching?
The movie is even arrogant enough to take a shot at a previous movie version of the cartoon. In one of the countless violent scenes, Top Cat is slammed into a trash can, which the movie's makers have stuffed full of DVD copies of 2011's Top Cat: The Movie. This weirdly cynical joke majorly backfires. It's true, that version was another dismal offering. But Top Cat Begins needs its own trash can right next to it. Thanks to streaming sites, there's never been more choice of what to watch as a family -- choose anything but this.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the humor in Top Cat Begins. Did you find it funny? Were the jokes appropriate for a movie like this? A lot of the jokes were at the expense of others. Could this type of humor be described as bullying?
Talk about the violence in the movie. Is it necessary to the story? How does the movie's comic tone affect the impact of the violent moments? What's the impact of media violence on kids?
How are the female characters portrayed in the movie? Did they serve a purpose to the story?
Top Cat carries out a series of scams. What scams do you know to be aware of? If something looks too good to be true, should you always question it?
Movie Details
- In theaters : September 29, 2017
- On DVD or streaming : October 10, 2017
- Cast : Jason Harris , Chris Edgerly , Bill Lobley
- Director : Andrés Couturier
- Inclusion Information : Latino Movie Director(s)
- Studio : Viva Pictures
- Genre : Family and Kids
- Topics : Animals
- Run time : 89 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- MPAA explanation : rude humor, action and some language.
- Last updated : September 30, 2025
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