The Garfield Movie Review
Here’s my The Garfield Movie review starring Chris Pratt, Nicholas Hoult and Samuel L. Jackson and directed by Mark Dindal. The film opens May 29 from Columbia Pictures Philippines!
We’re getting a new CGI Garfield movie with Chris Pratt voicing the familiar and adorable cat who loves lasagna and hates mondays with the legendary Samuel L. Jackson playing his dad, Vic. Yes, Dad. We are getting a movie about Garfield and his dad.
Which leads to my first point, the film should have been released Father’s Day. It’s a great movie for kids and their dads and it’s a movie with themes about found families and dealing with loss and getting back up. Ofcourse there’s a cartoon cat that’s adorable as hell so that’s good.
“The Garfield Movie” had an uphill battle to begin with but it manages to stay the course and reach the peak. Garfield comics is a situational strip that’s linear and there’s really no big bad at the end, no cinematic universe that it has to dive it. Just a guy named John, his dog and his cat. So the movie needed a big catalyst to change the status quo for this run anyway.
Still me and my kid enjoyed the movie. I was really hoping it would be super funny but it’s just moderately funny but it did have a good story to tell.
The voice cast was OK for me. Chris Pratt as Garfield wasn’t working for me as much as I was hoping for but he’s a dependable guy when it comes to doing animated voices. He did a good job with The Super Mario Bros Movie as Mario anyway. But nothing really to hone in on. Samuel L. Jackson however proves that he’s not just star power but real good stuff. Playing the role of Garfield’s dad Vic, I was pleasantly surprised at how well written and how well voice the character is. I found Hannah Waddingham’s Jinx a bit too exaggerated but that’s OK too since her character’s built specifically to be just that. It’s also nice to know that we have a mini “Ted Lasso” reunion here with Brett Goldstein also appearing in the film.
Vic and Garfield in GARFIELD
The weakest link for me here was Nicholas Hoult’s John Arbuckle. It was soooo different from the John I knew growing up and from the stuff I saw back then. This one was lame. Better luck next time.
The other high point for me here is the subtle and not-so-subtle elevation of Odie voiced by Harvey Guillén. Loved this doggo’s scenes and it really did give us an idea of how much he loves not just John but also Garfield despite the constant mistreatment and disrespect that tabby cat gives that yellow dog.
The Garfield Movie Review – Verdict
3.5/5
Overall, the Garfield Movie was a great move to introduce this classic cat and his supporting characters to a new generation of viewers. I don’t know how long Chris Pratt will stick and if that would matter in the endgame but I feel like there’s more stuff that will come out with this one. Hopefully we get more fun and quirky characters in future installments but for this flick, they did an OK job especially bringing in Sam Jackson, Mace ‘fricking Windu himself and Nick Fury himself, into the mix. The animation was good, there was a surprisingly good amount of drama and development and it could even make you tear up a little bit.
Special thanks to Columbia Pictures Philippines for the chance to see this movie. Catch the film also in cinemas especially in SM Cinemas nationwide as it’s now showing!
