Garfield, the lasagna-loving, Monday-hating orange tabby, is back on the big screen with an all-new adventure in The Garfield Movie. In the latest Garfield film, Garfield (voiced by Chris Pratt) shares the story of how he and Jon (voiced by Nicholas Hoult) first met.
”It was a dark and stormy night,” says the fat tabby, echoing Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s opening line of Paul Clifford, considered the worst opening line ever written. Cut to a flashback featuring Garfield as a little kitten in a tiny box, trying to stay dry and out of the rain while feeling sad and hungry. He gets a whiff of food from the Italian restaurant across the street and cautiously makes his way over. He stares at Jon, who is looking lonely while eating a big pizza. Jon spots the adorable little kitten through the window and quickly lets him in.
The two stare at each other and after Garfield licks Jon’s face, the tabby devours the pizza. The starving kitten then goes on an eating rampage, gobbling up all the food he can while Jon tries to grab him before the restaurant staff catches on.
Jon orders a family-size lasagna dinner and leaves with Garfield hidden in the to-go box. “And that’s how I adopted Jon,” says Garfield while his pal Odie the dog rolls his eyes and sighs.
Garfield’s living the good life with Jon and Odie, getting all the yummy food, sleeping whenever and wherever he feels like it, and just being one spoiled kitty cat. That is, until one night when he and Odie get cat/dognapped by two sketchy street dogs. The furry friends are taken to an abandoned building and left hanging from the rafters.
Garfield and Odie attempts to free themselves are futile. But just as they were losing hope, a figure in a dark cloak emerges from the shadows and comes to their rescue. “C’mon Jr, let’s go,” says the figure, who it turns out is Garfield’s long-lost father, Vic (voiced by Samuel L. Jackson). Vic left him in that small box on that stormy night, and Garfield’s not happy to see him again. Garfield wants nothing to do with Vic, but when he and Odie try to leave, they’re stopped by those pesky dogs that kidnapped them. Oh, and a white cat named Jinx (voiced by Hannah Waddingham).
Our favorite tabby and his dog BFF find themselves caught up in a risky, high-stakes heist. If they ever want to get back to their pampered lives, they’re going to have to become temporary members of Jinx’s gang.
Zany, colorful, and full of slapstick humor, The Garfield Movie has more in common with Looney Tunes cartoons than with the classic Jim Davis comic strip. The heist thrusts the lazy orange tabby off the couch and into a situation similar to the Mission: Impossible films. And it’s not just a coincidence that Ving Rhames voices a character involved in planning the heist.
Chris Pratt does a solid job as the voice of Garfield, sounding at times just like Lorenzo Music, who voiced the fat cat in animated specials including Garfield’s Halloween Adventure and Garfield Goes Hollywood. However, fans of the Davis comic strip and the animated specials might find this Garfield lacking his laziness, cynicism, and smart-aleck ways.
Nicholas Hoult is pitch perfect as Jon, Garfield and Odie’s devoted and naïve owner. Unfortunately, Jon’s missing from most of the action once the heist storyline takes focus.
The film is visually impressive with the use of CGI animation creating a bright and vibrant look. All in all, The Garfield Movie is a fun, frantic, and comical adventure that has enough hijinks and action to keep the kids in the audience entertained and enough humor and cuteness for their parents.
GRADE: B-
MPAA Rating: PG for action/peril and mild thematic elements
Release Date: May 24, 2024
Running Time: 1 hour 41 minutes
Directed By: Mark Dindal
Studio: Columbia Pictures
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