The Garfield Movie

The Garfield Movie
Starring Chris Pratt, Samuel L. Jackson, Hannah Waddingham, Ving Rhames
Directed by Mark Dindal

Growing up I loved "Garfield" and even still have his comic sketches. His Saturday morning cartoon was on weekly, and I could find myself associating with him: I too hate Mondays, love food, and am generally lazy - and that hasn't really changed all these decades later. After the monstrosities of the two live-action "Garfield" films (which Bill Murray hilariously shunned in "Zombieland"), it was inevitable that an animated movie would be made, and seemingly more inevitable that Chris Pratt (as opposed to Frank Welker who's been voicing him since 2007) would voice him. While the film itself has some laughable moments and throwbacks to classic slapstick comedy, overall the film is one that's too serious for children, and too long for adults to really enjoy.

After being abandoned as a kitten, Garfield (Chris Pratt) is taken in by loner adult Jon Arbuckle (Nicholas Hoult) and grows up to be a sarcastic, fat cat who hates Mondays and loves lasagna. He lives with Jon and his dog Odie that Garfield calls his unpaid intern, and life is going well for him - until he and Odie are kidnapped and brought to Jinx (Hannah Waddingham), a Persian cat with an axe to grind with Garfield's father, Vic (Samuel L. Jackson). Vic arrives and rescues Garfield and Odie before being informed by Jinx that the debt Vic owes her will be repaid if they steal a bunch of milk from a local farm. Upon arriving at the farm they find it impenetrable, and their only way in is through the company's old mascot bull Otto (Ving Rhames) who wants to rescue his lovely cow from the farm. As Vic and Garfield try to work together, Garfield can't get past Vic's past abandonment which could jeopardize the heist and their lives.

Clocking in at 101 minutes, "The Garfield Movie" is too bloated for its own good, a could've been cut down by at least twenty minutes if it didn't incorporate so many different subplots that kids probably didn't find fun and adults definitely didn't find endearing, such as Otto's quest for his love, the father/son abandonment issues, Jon's quest to find his pets, Jinx's unhinged nature, or her henchmen's backstories. There's so much going on that it's difficult to follow - not because it's complicated, but because it's just so mundane. It's not new, not exciting, not life-changing, and not surprising, as it being a kid's movie there's no question as to how it'll all end.

Chris Pratt does decently as the voice of Garfield, and as he did with Mario for "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" I really have no quarrels with him lending his voice once again, even though he doesn't change it at all so you know clearly who it is. Samuel L. Jackson is equally the same, offering his own unique voice without changing it even a little so you know plainly who it is. It doesn't detract from the film, just allows you to know who's voicing the talent behind the mic. Same goes for Hannah Waddingham (who does don a lovely British accent) and Ving Rhames to name a few. Nothing terrible, nothing great - just existing.

The animation is colorful, vibrant, and accurate, so there's no real problems there. The story is fast-paced for its length which is comforting. It all just feels very mechanical, very soulless, like some executives wanted to take advantage of Pratt's vocal talent and Garfield's IP and make something easy. It's a mixture of family drama and a heist movie, with some hilarious slapstick thrown throughout. I don't really have any desire to talk more about this, because while it's not the worst thing ever, it's not the best - and sadly, it doesn't even try to be.

The Score: C