Another Dr. Seuss classic is brought to the big screen. One of Dr. Seuss’s beloved characters comes to life in this fantasy comedy of the 1957 classic children’s book.

“The Cat in the Hat” is a live-action film with a brilliant set design. This movie uses basic elements of the book such as lines of the story that were narrated and rhymed, a brother and sister home alone with nothing to do on a rainy day, the sudden arrival of a mischievous cat, and havoc created and then dispelled before the mother returns.

This movie stars Mike Myers as the Cat, Spencer Breslin and Dakota Fanning as the brother and sister and Kelly Preston as the mother. This film was the directorial debut of Bo Welch, and it seems producer Brian Grazer is trying to capitalize on the success afforded him by 2000s holiday comedy hit “The Grinch.”

However, this movie is only rated PG, and tries to bill itself for young kids, but this is not the case. It is a little too sexualized with improper jokes for younger audience members, the rating is wrong and perhaps PG-13 is more suitable.

Another problem with the film is the baby-sitter. There was no baby-sitter in the book. It seems with today’s society, the film makers wanted to show a mother caring enough to not leave her children all alone without a sitter.

However, the sitter falls asleep almost immediately after arriving on the job, remains asleep throughout the entire fiasco, and awakens as soon as the mother returns. Furthermore, even if it is all in good fun, it is not humorous to treat the baby-sitter as an inanimate object.

Even as the Cat, Myers demonstrates his characteristic of playing multiple characters.

The movie barely follows the book, but Hollywood always changes elements of a story to make them more theatrical and entertaining. The Cat and the kids have fun, wreck the house, but eventually get everything cleaned up and back to normal before mom returns home.

This movie is funny but could have been much better. The conclusion is satisfying as the children learn lessons in addition to having fun. This is a twisted version of the story that does not live up to all of its media hype.

For mature moviegoers who enjoyed “The Grinch” in search of a few laughs will enjoy the comedy of “The Cat in the Hat” but it is not a must-see.