Talking Kitty Cat 2: Sylvester's Abduction

Talking Kitty Cat 2: Sylvester's Abduction (sometimes titled The Talking Kitty Cat Movie 2 in select countries) is a 2022 live-action/computer-animated action comedy film directed by Pat Casey, Josh Miller, F. Gary Gray and James Cameron, produced by Chris Morgan, Steve Cash's wife Celia DeCosta Cash and James Cameron and executive-produced by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller based on a screenplay by Chris Morgan. The film is written by Neal H. Moritz, Celia DeCosta Cash and James Cameron and is based on the YouTube series Talking Kitty Cat by Steve Cash.

A sequel to The Talking Kitty Cat Movie, the film reprises Ryan Reynolds as Sylvester, as well as Greg Tiernan as Steve, with Kristen Wiig, Tom Kenny, James Corden and more. The film was produced by Lightstorm Entertainment, TSG Entertainment, Talking Kitty Cat, LLC, Village Roadshow Pictures, Bron Creative and Original Film, with Sony Pictures Imageworks, DNEG and Wētā FX providing animation, motion capture and visual effects services.

Talking Kitty Cat 2: Sylvester's Abduction premiered in Nampa, Idaho on August 27, 2022 and was theatrically released on September 2, 2022 by 20th Century Studios in 2D, 3D, RealD 3D, 4DX, Dolby Cinema and IMAX formats. It was later released internationally on September 5, 2022 by Warner Bros. Pictures and in Australia on September 28, 2022 by Roadshow Entertainment. It received mixed-to-positive reviews, with critics praising its animation, performances, voice acting (particularly Reynolds, Kenny and Corden), visual effects, humor, musical score by Hans Zimmer and heartwarming dedication to Steve Cash, Sylvester and Shelby, though criticized its plot, runtime and its songs. The film grossed $1.058 billion worldwide on its budget of $210 million.

Plot
A year after the events of the first film, Sylvester's (Ryan Reynolds) owners, Steve (Greg Tiernan) and Celia DeCosta (Kristen Wiig), now live happily together with nothing at all to worry about. That is, until one day, while Sylvester was outside in the grass, two masked men grabbed the black cat and ran off with him. When Steve and Celia found out that Sylvester was gone, they called local authorities and the Idaho Police Department, but it was too late. Sylvester was abducted, and was transported all the way in Northern Europe.

In the United Kingdom, Sylvester was seen in an animal shelter. The two masked men (Idris Elba and Ewan McGregor) laughed at him. After what Sylvester did at the bank before, the men were guaranteed to abduct Sylvester, to which they succeeded. Meanwhile, in Nampa, Steve and Celia started becoming more worried about whether or not he was going to be okay. They started thinking of what they were going to do to him, thinking they would kill him or brutally execute him with some sort of execution device. Despite this, Sylvester kept calm and let the men laugh and tease him.

On the night of July 4, Independence Day, Sylvester saw that the key for his cage was surprisingly left in front of his cell. He reached out his paw and tried to grab it, but didn't work. Then, he saw an old twig laying in his cell. He grabbed it and reached for the key, to which he got it. He then used the key to free himself from the cage, but the sirens then went off. Sylvester knew he had to get out of the shelter before animal control could recapture him and take him back to his cell. But as he came to the exit, they were blocked by multiple guards, and soon enough, Sylvester was surrounded. When all hope seemed to be lost, he heard gunfire. It was Oliver (Tom Kenny) and Tyler (James Corden), two of Sylvester's then-friends who found out about his abduction. Oliver and Tyler were abducted by different people and were transported to the same shelter in England.

Sylvester, Oliver and Tyler made a break for the shelter exit, and escaped. While escaping, as they were far away from the shelter, they saw an animal transporter that was headed to Nampa, Idaho. As the transporter was about to close up, the three cats quickly jumped into it. The crates were then ported onto an airplane, also headed to Nampa, Idaho, and the plane took off. Back at Steve and Celia's home, their "Find My Cat" application went off. They checked it, and it said "Your cat, Sylvester, is heading to Nampa, Idaho". It was midnight, and it said the plane wouldn't arrive until the next day, July 5.

The next day, the plane touched down at the Nampa Municipal Airport. Steve and Celia arrived at the airport an hour before, and when the crates were being unloaded, the workmen were opening the crates. Sylvester, Oliver and Tyler came out of crate #25. The three cats ran to Steve and Celia, with Sylvester arriving to them first. Oliver and Tyler didn't go any further as they didn't know Steve and Celia. Thankfully, Sylvester was fine, despite being in a crate for 7 hours. Sylvester then introduced Steve and Celia to Oliver and Tyler. Sylvester then decides to re-friend the two cats, and they became friends ever since. Now, Sylvester remains living with Steve and Celia, with the two owners keeping Sylvester inside the house at all times.

Cast

 * Ryan Reynolds as Sylvester, a black cat who lives with Random Kitty, GG (Gibson's Granddaughter), Shelby, Steve and Celia DeCosta Cash
 * Greg Tiernan as Steve, Sylvester’s co-owner and Celia DeCosta’s husband
 * Kristen Wiig as Celia DeCosta, Sylvester’s co-owner and Steve’s wife
 * Sandra Bullock as Random Kitty, Steve and Celia’s third cat
 * Jill Talley as Isabelle "Izzy", one of Steve and Celia's cats shown in a flashback when Steve brought up Izzy to Sylvester
 * Scarlett Johannsson as Shelby, a black Labrador dog with a voice collar (inspired from Disney-Pixar's 2009 film Up)
 * Idris Elba as Matt, a pet thief, friends with Kevin and is a guard at the animal shelter
 * Ewan McGregor as Kevin, a pet thief, friends with Matt and is a guard at the animal shelter
 * Tom Kenny as Oliver, a Calico cat and Sylvester’s friend
 * James Corden as Tyler, a white cat and Sylvester’s friend

Production
Development on a sequel to The Talking Kitty Cat Movie began in 2018. Celia DeCosta Cash, then-wife of the late Steve Cash, produced the film alongside Chris Morgan and Celia developed a story for the film. Originally with a working title “Sylvester The Hero”, it was then changed to “Sylvester’s Abduction”, as it would suit the theme of the Talking Kitty Cat name. Pat Casey, Josh Miller and F. Gary Gray directed the film while Phil Lord and Christopher Miller served as executive producers, though Lord Miller Productions was uncredited.

Ryan Reynolds reprised his role as Sylvester, and Greg Tiernan and Kristen Wiig reprise their roles as Steve (Tiernan) and Celia (Wiig). Tom Kenny and James Corden, who provided the voices of Oliver (Kenny) and Tyler (Corden), reprise their roles.

Visual effects and animation
While Rhythm & Hues Studios produced the animation for the first film, Sony Pictures Imageworks provided the animation services. DNEG also supervised animation, as well as Wētā FX.

Music
"Main article: Talking Kitty Cat 2: Sylvester's Abduction (soundtrack)" Talking Kitty Cat 2: Sylvester's Abduction 's score was composed by German film composer Hans Zimmer, who composed the score for the first film. Music from rappers The Notorious B.I.G., including music from Eminem and twenty one pilots, were included in the soundtrack album. It was released through Interscope Records via Universal Music Enterprises on September 2, 2022.

Release
Originally scheduled for a March 2023 release, the film was pushed back to a September 2022 release. It had its premiere at the Dolby Theatre on August 28, 2022 and was later released in the United States on September 2, 2022 by 20th Century Studios, internationally on September 8, 2022 by Warner Bros. Pictures and in Australia on September 28, 2022 by Roadshow Entertainment. The film was rated R by the Motion Picture Association (MPA) for strong violence, blood, mild alcohol reference, mild drug use, strong language and nudity.

Home media
Talking Kitty Cat 2: Sylvester’s Abduction was released onto DVD, Blu-ray and Digital on December 9, 2022 by 20th Century Studios Home Entertainment. The film was later released internationally on DVD and Blu-ray on December 17, 2022 by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, and in Australia on January 2, 2023 by Roadshow Entertainment. The film is planned to be released on Disney+ in April 2023.

Box office
Talking Kitty Cat 2: Sylvester’s Abduction was theatrically released on September 2, 2022 worldwide by 20th Century Studios. The film was internationally released by Warner Bros. Pictures and was released in Australia by Roadshow Entertainment. Its estimated projections for its opening weekend are around $10-20 million and grossed $38.5 million ($33.2 million + $5.3 million in Friday night previews). In its opening week, the projections were above its estimations, grossing $120.6 million. As of February 19, 2023, the film made $1.186 billion.

Critical response
Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports an approval rating of 43% based on 137 critic reviews, with an average rating of 5.35/10. Its critical consensus reads: "Sylvester returns in Sylvester's Abduction with Tom Kenny and James Corden's applicable feline characters, which is slightly laughable for young adults, but older adults will find this mainly entertaining for the action bits and gun fights." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 51 out of 100 based on 28 critic reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore assigned the film an average grade of "B+" on their A+ to F scale.

Trivia

 * It is the first film to have a story from Celia DeCosta Cash, Steve Cash's wife.
 * It is the 2nd Talking Kitty Cat film to be produced by Universal Pictures.
 * The film was dedicated to Shelby, the dog of Steve Cash, who died in June 2022.