Review: Kids Might Enjoy Chris Pratt’s ‘The Garfield Movie’ On Blu-ray But Adults Will Likely Be Bored
by David Lewis
Maybe Garfield’s just not meant to be a movie star. The long-running newspaper comic strip is still widely syndicated, there’s a generational nostalgia for the 1988-1994 cartoon Garfield and Friends, and there’s probably a huge warehouse out there that’s still packed with those suction cup Garfield toys for car interiors. However, the two critically-maligned big screen adventures of the mid-2000s seem to have been largely forgotten, despite initial success at the box office. The Garfield Movie, which debuted in theaters earlier this year and is now available on Blu-ray, does little to reverse the trend.
This time, the lazy orange cat (Chris Pratt) and his canine pal Odie leave the cozy comfort of their home life with Jon and venture outside. They’re quickly kidnapped by a pair of ugly dogs who work for a local crime syndicate, only to be rescued by a street smart cat named Vic (Samuel L. Jackson), who turns out to be Garfield’s estranged father. Vic has a history with the syndicate, and reluctantly drafts Garfield and Odie to work together on a milk heist. It goes predictably awry, but Garfield, Odie, and Vic gain something more important along the way — they become a family.
The best thing you can say about The Garfield Movie is that it’s certainly a few steps up from the two CG/live-action films of the mid-2000s, featuring Bill Murray as Garfield. Director Mark Dindal — a Disney vet who previously made The Emperor’s New Groove and Chicken Little — and his team come up with some well-orchestrated action sequences that keep thing humming along and partially make up for the unfunny funny moments and some really over-the-top sentimentality. Kids might enjoy the colorful pratfalls, the PG-rated wordplay, and the overused pop song cues, but adults will most likely be bored.
Pratt, already the voice of the lead character in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, makes for an odd choice to play Garfield. Whereas Murray and Garfield and Friends‘ Lorenzo Music gave the lazy feline a sleepy, deadpan drawl, Pratt plays him more high-strung and hyperactive (like Mario). It’s an intentional choice, but it seems to go against the proud laziness and blasé attitude Garfield is known for.
The film also features an endless line of supporting animals, all endowed with familiar voices, including Ving Rhames, Nicholas Hoult, Snoop Dogg, and TV vets ranging from Ted Lasso stars Hannah Waddingham and Brett Goldstein, to SNL stars Bowen Yang and Cecily Strong. They all sound like they’re having fun, but there doesn’t seem to be much thought behind casting besides finding famous people who were available.
The Blu-ray’s special features are equally lazy. A look at the casting and a short gag reel let fans watch the famous faces in the recording booth, but once you see them, it will be even harder to suspend disbelief when watching the movie itself. Pratt just always sounds like Pratt, the same way Jackson always sounds like Jackson.
A deleted scene — in animatic form — of a limp musical number featuring Waddingham in vampy Cruella de Vil mode, was wisely left on the cutting room floor.
The disc also contains yet another virtually useless guide to Easter Eggs in the film. Did you know that Jon’s phone passcode corresponds to Garfield’s 1978 newspaper debut, and creator Jim Davis‘ initials and DOB show up on a random license plate? Are these vague visual connections even worth pointing out?
