Rating: ««
out of ««««
Running Time: 101 minutes
This motion picture from Sony Pictures is playing exclusively at movie theaters.
The hit comic strip Garfield certainly doesn’t seem like a property that is suited to live action features. For those unfamiliar with the property, it follows a, well, lazy house cat who spends most of his time lounging in his owner’s home scheming to eat lasagna. That hasn’t stopped Hollywood from trying to adapt it into a movie franchise before.
A critically reviled 2004 live-action adaptation and 2006 sequel using the voice of Bill Murray marked the feline’s first cinematic foray. The Garfield Movie is a fully animated effort that also adds a new backstory for the character. Truth be told, this version fares no better than the previous ones.
As mentioned, the movie contains a brief introduction and new history for the lead. It initially appears that the kitten Garfield (Chris Pratt) is abandoned by his father Vic (Samuel L. Jackson) in an alley. After crossing paths at an Italian eatery, the feline is ultimately taken in by human Jon (Nicholas Hoult). Eventually, the pair move into a suburban home with pet pooch Odie (Harvey Guillén).
After years of devouring all kinds of Italian dishes, the cat is kidnapped by a criminal cohort of Vic’s named Jinx (Hannah Waddingham). Jinx demands that the leads steal a truck full of milk from Lactose Farms to make amends for Vic’s desertion during an earlier crisis. To complete the mission, the heroes enlist the help of dairy mascot Otto (Ving Rhames). Alas, the heist plans quickly go awry and they find themselves in mortal danger from both Jinx and Lactose Farms security head Marge Malone (Cecily Strong).
Visually, the film does attempt to mimic the look of the comic. It isn’t exactly a dynamic looking film, but the visuals are reminiscent of the source material. And early on, there’s a chuckle or two involving some of the sight gags detailing Garfield’s appetite. At more than one point in the story, the cat significantly extends the sides of his mouth to fit in and devour an entire pizza in mere seconds. Later in the feature, the hero briefly attempts to dress up and behave like a superhero. It is an amusing look for the normally lazy animal.
But even if a comedic element with some potential is introduced into the story, it’s often used as a quick and bluntly delivered gag. While the pacing is quick and the main character is placed in all sorts of locales that he wouldn’t normally find himself, the result is rarely funny. Instead, the movie seems content to make the odd pop culture reference alongside pratfall and physical gags.
Much of the story involves an irritated Garfield having to deal with his estranged father, whom he distrusts intensely. Truth be told, this is by far the biggest element and emotional heart of the tale, with owner Jon quickly vanishing into the background. Despite their seemingly deep conflict, there isn’t a great deal of tension between the characters and little interesting material results from it. And while the good-natured but simple pooch Odie is present throughout, he doesn’t have a discernible character arc or make an impression as a significant contrast to Garfield.
Many of the jokes are geared very young, yet a significant portion of the movie involves the villain and her cohorts trying to murder Vic and Garfield in violent fashion. Additionally, one of the segments involves Garfield and Odie entering the wrong area of the dairy and nearly getting chopped to bits by sharp implements and a grater. This might all be fun if the film had witty repartee between the characters, but nothing feels sharp and these bits don’t play well.
Another irritation is the product placement in the feature. The running joke involving a cat-centric version of Netflix and some instant delivery drones (which, later in the film, Garfield notes are now being adopted and effectively used to get excellent products from Walmart) may be attempting to poke fun, but come across as a blatant commercial in a kid’s flick.
One admires the attempt to take Garfield out of his comfort zone, but as written the movie doesn’t deliver a lot of hilarity as a fish-out-of-water tale. The humor is geared to the extremely young and may please them, but there isn’t anything here that is hilarious or will surprise older audiences. The Garfield Movie is hardly a gourmet dish, ultimately tasting a bit flavorless.
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By Glenn Kay
For the Sun
