If you or, more likely, your child thinks it would be fun to spend an hour and a half watching crime-fighting guinea pigs, this is just what you want. It's your standard "put cute, talking animal(s) in atypical circumstances" movie, complete with non-violent action, kid humor, a few gushy parts, and a happy ending. Why take risks when you can sell your movie in stock form to kids who just want to see tiny animals save the world and crack jokes?

G-Force is about a crack squad of guinea pigs that have been trained as spies, along with a mole, a fly, and some roaches, in a special lab owned by the FBI. Also, somehow their trainers, Ben and Marcie, can understand them when they talk (it's made clear that all animals possess the ability to talk to each other). On the eve before their facility is shut down, they embark on a highly successful infiltration mission, acquiring a computer file that details a plan to destroy the world via Transformer-like household appliances. Unfortunately, the data was corrupted, the feds come to shut them down, the G-Force gets locked away in a pet shop, and now everyone has to regroup to save the world.

The very premise of this movie will have the kids' approval and commitment. They get to see furry little creatures infiltrating a mansion, racing down the street in supercharged plastic balls, saying things that are funny purely because guinea pigs are saying them (like "Pimp my ride!"), and fighting deadly espresso machines. One little gag involves a female guinea pig updating her Facebook page. There are also jokes that come from the humans but which are nonetheless of the same caliber. Ben, expressing the sadness of thinking his reconnaissance-gear-outfitted fly has been KIA, says, "I hate it when my fly's down."

However, the plot does find itself in a bit of a rut after the beginning. When the FBI comes to shut G-Force down and get rid of the operatives, the animals strip themselves of their equipment, escape the premises, and find themselves caged together in a pet store. They are stuck there for quite a while trying to devise an escape plan and cope with their new roommates. It's nothing tremendously boring, but it is and odd predicament to spend so much time on when what viewers have signed up for is to see guinea pigs fighting crime with high tech gear. Even after they escape, there are plenty of everyday obstacles they must overcome before they're back in uniform.

The animation looks good. It would be inaccurate to say that this is what it would look like if guinea pigs really fought crime, because these critters are much more emotive and flexible than real rodents. I guess I could say this is what it would look like if guinea pigs really fought crime, and had great facial muscle control, and were as agile as gymnasts, and could stand, and could talk, and could drive plastic balls at sixty-five miles per hour, and could hack computers, but you get the idea. It's convincing enough.

I don't think there's a point in going any further with this. G-Force is guaranteed to please the kids, but when the DVD comes out, it's not going to be one for which they're clamoring because there's nothing even slightly unique about its structure. You can accurately guess the entire shape of the plot, climax, and falling action of the film by watching the trailer, or maybe even just by looking at the poster. Somewhere there is a writer's handbook that reads: "Protagonists find themselves in trouble; protagonists fight powerful antagonist; protagonists encounter a little plot twist in the meantime; protagonists come out on top. Replace "protagonists" with cute animal of choice. Repeat." This film's writers (Why in the world were six required?) found that handbook.