Everything old is new again and now everybody’s favourite orange tabby is back in a new adventure. It is hard to believe that Garfield has now been entertaining people of all ages for 46 years old…. The great thing is that it seems a number of people over the years have found ways to keep Garfield as fresh as possible. From new cartoons and comics through to movies starring the vocal skills of Bill Murray.
Now comes the new incarnation of Garfield in The Garfield Movie with director Mark Dindal (Chicken Little) in charge of bringing it to screen while the brilliant Chris Pratt (Guardians Of The Galaxy) is the man responsible for giving Garfield a voice.
Nothing much has changed in Garfield’s (Pratt) world. He is still obsessed with lasagna and pizza while his faithful canine companion Odie (voiced by Harvey Guillen – Blue Beetle) goes along with every scheme he thinks up. Meanwhile his human companion, Jon (Nicholas Hoult – Mad Max: Fury Road), is left footing the ominous food bills.
However Garfield’s cozy life is soon put in danger when he and Odie are kidnapped by mastermind feline Jinx (voiced by Hannah Waddingham – The Fall Guy) who wants to get revenge on Garfield’s father, Vic (Samuel L. Johnson – Pulp Fiction), whom abandoned him years earlier.
In order to keep their lives Garfield and Vic are going to have to learn to work together as they plan a heist put together by Jinx that will see them have to crack the security of a large dairy.
How the audience will react to The Garfield Movie is going to come down to what kind of animation they prefer to watch. If they are a fan of Family Guy or The Simpsons then they may be a little disappointed – however if they grew up on a steady diet of Looney Tunes or The Muppets then they will quickly be warmed over by the old school humour that the film brings back to the big screen.
Those that certainly won’t be disappointed are those that are true Garfield fans. From the early comics through to the animated TV show Garfield has always been a more ‘innocent’ type of story and it is kind of refreshing to see that this movie captures that without bringing in a modern day feel with either its look or themes.
Perhaps the most impressive part of The Garfield Movie though is the way that it tugs at the heart-strings. The early scenes of Garfield being ‘abandoned’ by his father but being rescued by Jon is guaranteed to have a few tears falling while the latter storyline between Otto the bull (Ving Rhames – Mission: Impossible franchise) and his girlfriend Ethel (Alicia Grace Turrell – Queens) is also a bit of a tear jerker.
The other side of the film that works exceptionally well is the humour. Whether it be the Looney Tunes type of comedy of Garfield being flung towards a train from a tree and some of the smart moves by Odie in the background, while Garfield tries to steal the limelight, there is no shortage of moments in this film that will make you laugh.
Of course the big question that most people will have going into this film will be how does Chris Pratt sound as Garfield. In recent years the voice of Bill Murray has become synonymous with the pasta-loving feline but it has to be said that Pratt does a fine job here. He is well matched with Samual L. Jackson who seems to bring some real heart to the role of Garfield’s father.
The only real disappointment with The Garfield Movie is that Jon isn’t featured in the film more often. Fans of the original comic books will tell you that Jon is a very important part of the Garfield story – especially his dating life at times. However, in this film Jon goes missing for long periods of time – a shame when you also realise that the man behind his voice is the very talented Nicholas Hoult. It seems a bit of a waste that he has been used in such a small role.
If you are a lover of old-school animated comedy then you will quickly fall in love with The Garfield Movie. This is a movie that long term fans of the comic books will enjoy but may receive mixed reactions from those not used to the antics of Garfield.
3/5 Stars
