Garfield works great as a comic strip. His witty put downs, lazy selfish behaviour and eating obsession make him totally loveable as is his sarcasm and attitude to Odie and Jon. I even once had a loveable Marmalade cat who had Garfield's love of food, love of all areas where he could sit and make himself comfortable and his 'I'm not moving from this spot for anyone, especially you' attitude.
So obviously I was hoping that this film would resonate a little bit or at least be entertaining. Unfortunately I just found it okay at best. The two previous films were pretty awful and this was perhaps a tiny step up but not by much. The story was pretty threadbare although Samuel L Jackson has a surprisingly good voice for animation. Chris Pratt was a decent fit for the voice too, conveying the general lethargy of our ginger hero and his disdain for those around him. But whilst the film had shreds of wit in the script, it didn't seem quite enough. I also took exception to the design of our rotund hero. His face appeared to have some kind of horrible moustache that ruined his cute look. Odie was pretty spot on with his look though.
The Lorenzo Music voiced animated cartoons of the 1980s were pretty much spot on and perhaps Garfield works better in animated shorts than as a feature film. I also found the humour in this film extremely hit and miss (more miss than hit to be honest) with only about three or four laugh out loud moments. As an origins film it was okay but if there is to be a sequel more work needs to be done on tightening up the storylines and please get rid of that moustache looking face of our sardonic hero. Having said that it is ultimately a kids film but to me it still lacks the depth or charm of something like 'The Peanuts Movie' from a few years back.
So obviously I was hoping that this film would resonate a little bit or at least be entertaining. Unfortunately I just found it okay at best. The two previous films were pretty awful and this was perhaps a tiny step up but not by much. The story was pretty threadbare although Samuel L Jackson has a surprisingly good voice for animation. Chris Pratt was a decent fit for the voice too, conveying the general lethargy of our ginger hero and his disdain for those around him. But whilst the film had shreds of wit in the script, it didn't seem quite enough. I also took exception to the design of our rotund hero. His face appeared to have some kind of horrible moustache that ruined his cute look. Odie was pretty spot on with his look though.
The Lorenzo Music voiced animated cartoons of the 1980s were pretty much spot on and perhaps Garfield works better in animated shorts than as a feature film. I also found the humour in this film extremely hit and miss (more miss than hit to be honest) with only about three or four laugh out loud moments. As an origins film it was okay but if there is to be a sequel more work needs to be done on tightening up the storylines and please get rid of that moustache looking face of our sardonic hero. Having said that it is ultimately a kids film but to me it still lacks the depth or charm of something like 'The Peanuts Movie' from a few years back.