Exploding Kittens Review: Tom Ellis’s Netflix Show is Devilishly Fun

In the ever-expanding landscape of adult animated shows, Netflix’s ones have won over our hearts time and time again. And this time, it’s one called Exploding Kittens! Based on the famous ‘Exploding Kittens’ card game created by Elan Lee and The Oatmeal’s Inman, this series has 9 episodes, each with a runtime of around 25 minutes. Shane Kosakowski and Matthew Inman join as showrunners & creators of the series.

The story follows God after he is thrown out of Heaven and ordered to live with a human family in order to clean up the mess he has created. Once on Earth, he is asked to reconnect with humanity which results in him taking care of his human family, running around laser pointers and getting into the ultimate battle of good and evil with his next-door neighbour, the Antichrist.

As if being the devil wasn’t enough, Tom Ellis is here being a very naughty God and then a cat on top and providing some much-needed entertainment – I mean, it’s always a good day when we watch a show about cats. And that’s what will get your attention when it comes to this series. It’s absolutely nothing new in any way but it’s cute cats with Ellis’s voice acting just entertains you so thoroughly it is hard to look away.

The small episodes cover a new day and new challenges for Godcat as he tries to take care of his human family as well as try to go back to Heaven and enjoy its benefits. Plus, there’s also the overarching storyline of his fight with Devilcat, his next door neighbour. The series’ storylines are unimpressive in the sense that these are stuff that we have already seen covered in other shows. There’s nothing too new and sometimes it’s predictable as well. However, when the one saving you is a cat who gets extremely distracted by laser pointers, there’s something so stinking funny that it makes things feel few.

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Thankfully, Ellis isn’t new to portraying an all-powerful being in some form or another and his voice acting is both nonchalant and authoritative. It goes so well in the mouth of a cat that it makes you laugh out loud. There are some jokes that, again, even though predictable, work because a cat says it and you laugh out loud regardless of how stale it is. The humour makes you uncomfortable because of how dark it sometimes gets but nothing too hard to digest. The series plays it safe in terms of both story and humour, which works well for this series somehow.

The funniest parts of this series are Godcat and Devilcat – both are so insanely funny and silly that you can’t help but laugh at the situations that they get into. Their obsession with saving/destroying the world while also being a typical kitty cat is nothing short of entertaining. Although sometimes the jokes get a bit repetitive, the series keeps us moving swiftly to register too many mistakes. Which is a great thing – this show is not to be taken seriously and the series knows that too well.

Exploding Kittens Review: Final Thoughts

Exploding Kittens is cute and forgettable and works because it’s a TV show about cats. And we love cats. There’s nothing unique about it and nothing really sets it apart from some of its well-known and better-loved competitors. However, it’s thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining and most of the jokes land.

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