When you see a trailer for a movie and it features talking dogs, you can’t help but wonder if the film is worth seeing. For instance, we’ve been let down before, with “Cats & Dogs” and “Look Who’s Talking Now” plowing the way with interesting ‘pets can talk and are smarter than humans’ stories that should have gone straight-to-video and forgotten. Now, MGM is bringing us yet another film with A-list stars doing the voice-overs for the intelli-pets with “Good Boy!”

This time, the story is that dogs were sent to Earth thousands of years ago from the Dog-star Sirius to take over the planet. Rumor going around the universe, however, is that the dogs have become complacent, and have let the humans take over instead. So when a young boy named Owen (Liam Aiken) finds a scout sent by Sirius to report on the Earth dogs, he has to help make sure the dogs are allowed to stay.

As with any kid’s film, you have to have some bullies, one real “truly” good friend, and a few poop and fart jokes. “Good Boy!” has followed that script lesson to the letter. Thankfully, the body-function jokes are very minimal, but the lead dog Hubble will remind older parents of Benji, and the good-old-days of “dogs and their owners” films.

In the lead role, Liam Aiken has a great screen presence and range, and when the camera is focused on him, he is an attention grabber. His parents, played by Saturday Night Live alums Kevin Nealon and Molly Shannon, are a great addition to the cast of characters. As for the A-List of voice-overs for the dogs, they seem almost wasted. With the likes of Mathew Broderick voicing the main dog Hubble, Carl Reiner growling as the big dog Shep (who constantly has gas), Brittany Murphy as little nervous Nelly, Donald Faison (from NBC’s Scrubs) asking for “20 cookies” as Wilson, and Delta Burke as Barbara Ann, the voices are hardly recognizable as the stars that are saying the lines (with the exception of Broderick). While this is obviously the desired effect (hopefully you’re not thinking of Carl Reiner when Shep is passing gas), it seems a lot was wasted on the voices when the more noticeable action is the dog’s tricks and personalities.

Being a “PG” rated film, this is clearly targeted for young kids, and the humor follows the same path. Dogs farting, silly dumbed-down dialogue, and dog tricks keep kids laughing, but a very slow story line and sentimental feel-good segments may loose a lot of the younger kids’ attention. Surprising in that Jim Henson Productions had a hand in this film, since they used to have such a keen knack for mixing kid humor and delivering good messages in a nice neat package. “Good Boy!” is sugar-coated and sweet, and the humor is there in parts, but it never comes together to form a cohesive, fully enjoyable film. If you thought “Cats & Dogs” or “Look Who’s Talking Now” were great moments in cinema, this is right up your alley. However, it’s hard to put down a film that tries to be for those in the five-to-twelve age demographic, and the story is very family friendly. If you have kids in that range, catch the matinee. Otherwise, this one is (you knew it was coming) for the dogs.