THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
In one way or another, people love the comic strip character that is Garfield. While it was an era when seeing the hybrid movies from the 2000s, it was safe to say a do over was needed but it still feels uncertain if it was worth it .
PLOT
The 2024 animated adaptation follows the infamous obese talking cat who was adopted by Jon Arbuckle when he was a young stray. Five years later, now living alongside his beagle sidekick Odie (Harvey Guillén), he is extremely pampered in his pet lifestyle. One night when going after a midnight snack, he and Odie get abducted by two other dogs, a large shar pei named Roland & a small whippet named Nolan (Bret Goldstein & Bowen Yang), who hold them captive at an abandoned mall. The domestic duo get saved by Garfield' estranged father Vic, but Garfield shows no gratitude since he believes he left him the night he met Jon. Before he can explain himself, they then meet the dogs' boss which happens to be a Persian cat named Jinx. She has her own animosity towards Vic since he left her behind during a milk heist at Lactose Farms, which led to her being stuck in an animal shelter for over 4 years. She claims to forgive him if he and his son can steal over 1600 quarts of milk from the farm as compensation for her imprisonment, with Roland & Nolan observing in them. By morning, Jon notices his pets gone but has trouble calling people to help search for them. When the cats reach the farm with Odie, they meet the farm's former mascot, a highland bull named Otto who got cast out by a corporation that took over the farm and separated him from his cow girlfriend Ethel (Alicia Grace Turrell). Vic & Garfield make a deal with him that if he helps them steal the milk, they'll help him reunite with Ethel. He agrees and formulates a plan to pull it off but before the heist can go in motion, he and Odie tie both cats to a tree so they can settle their differences. Because of this, Vic gets the chance to explain what the night he left his son behind: It turns out he never actually did and was trying to obtain food as they were both starving strays. He returned too late though when he found him wandering off to Jon and chose to keep his distance because he accepted the human was a better care provider. After hearing the truth, Garfield forgives his dad. When Roland & Nolan report back to Jinx that the cats are ready to perform the heist, she intentionally makes things hard for them by calling the farm's animal control officer Marge Malone to frame them for it, completing her act of revenge on Vic. The cats & Odie are able to get the milk, but Marge intercepts the beagle and Garfield. Vic remorsefully leaves them behind to go through the deal, but Jinx admitted she intended for him to get caught so he can be stuck in the pound the way she was. Garfield & Odie get sent there though, which leads to Jon picking them up. During the drive there though, Garfield learns from other stray cats that Vic would leave them just to check up on his son and watch him afar. He wouldn't accept this truth until retuning home and finding tally marks on a tree across the house. Realizing that Vic left him behind to protect him from Jinx, he and Odie reach out to Otto to help him rescue his parent. They follow Jinx to a train where she intends to Vic off a bridge with stalagmites at the bottom. Moved of Garfield's efforts after failing to intercept them, Roland & Nolan decide to go against Vic. Enraged, she retaliates by pushing them all of the train before she gets knocked off by an overpass. Thankfully, Otto is able to save the animals by swinging on a rope and they all safely land on a net planted by Odie. They later make a deal with Marge by returning the milk truck and turning in Jinx in exchange for Ethel's release. With the cow reuniting with Otto, Roland & Nolan reform themselves as security guards for Marge and Vic does community service as punishment for her crimes. The film ends with Vic moving in to Jon's home to continue being a part of Garfield's life.
THOUGHTS
I didn't really have any expectations about this movie because I never asked for this one in particular, so my feeling is just neutral after watching this. I mean I won't take away the animation being neat enough to look exactly like something you'd see if more comic strips of Garfield were made now, but it does feel like Director Mark Dindal had the burden to make something a mess that is somewhat fun for kids but still bland for adults. That does point out the audience it's meant for, but it doesn't mean it shouldn't try catering to everyone because it tries so hard to be cheeky it just gets forced. Like are you really impressing anyone when referencing Tom Cruise movies as in playing Mission: Impossible music during the heist, as well as Top Gun when the delivery drones aid Garfield in the climax? Because it makes me shrug. I mean the former is so dead on when recognizing Ving Rhames give a solid voice performance as the grumpy yet compassionate Otto. Looking back, the only true expectation I made was the casting of the iconic cat because Bill Murray's iteration was a part of my childhood I respect. I did give Chris Pratt a chance since he did alright as Mario from Illumination's The Super Mario Bros Movie and I love him in both Onward & The LEGO Movie. This is where the track record in voice performances should come to an end for him because he doesn't really match the deadpan the cat is all about despite still nailing the aspect he's quite self absorbed. The execution on that doesn't match like before which is a problem because you gotta make him more than an asshole. With the addition of Samuel L Jackson as his dad Vic, this is a tale of forgiveness that feels rushed, but Jackson does bring believability that he's caring parent in his own way. The fact that he had to watch his child grow up from afar does give a different perspective of the comic strips than people were to realize. It is one thing to admit how overly obnoxious Cecily Strong portrays the dedicated Marge, but Hannah Waddingham dials it up to 11 when it came to playing the villain Jinx. She's too straightforward in terms of being cynically sadistic since she's all about getting even and then some, but then that is it for her. It is pure luck for Roland & Nolan to go against her during the climax, but even that felt rushed. I even thought it was random for Nicholas Hoult to voice Jon because his accent here is most unrecognizable. Nevertheless, he is dead on in making him a bumbling yet caring owner to his pets. I mean the bills got to be high like a mountain if Garfield is spamming food orders on his phone and doesn't delete the apps to prevent it from happening again. There are jokes like this that land, but then there are those that do not due to not making any sense at all. Like from the top, why isn't there a food menu on the app Garfield is ordering from or a price tag on the picture of food he wants? It's not like kids don't what that is, so put that on for everything and not just desserts. And why did it take Jinx to help Roland if he's strong enough to do it on his own? If Nolan wasn't doing the talking, then he ain't a good friend either. Also, why the hell does Garfield's Thanksgiving Parade balloon appear? Is he actually famous in this setting to the point where he went from local to mainstream because he can talk? Please make the meta make sense because it bothers me more than how casual it gets for humans like Marge having an app to talk to animals or acorns used as earpieces. And what kind of neighborhood has 1,346 owners reporting missing pets? That's more of a city than a neighborhood when you think about it. Honestly, Garfield being adopted by Jon could've been avoided if Vic just returned to him and wait with him until the coast was clear. I know he had no idea the human was gonna have an extensive phone call, but it's best to be pre-cautious in his predicament. And if Jinx's plan was for Vic to get caught, why did she wait in the middle of the road as if she knew he'd make it out alive? At the very least, it'd make more sense if she was waiting at the mall. But if she had an off chance feeling, how long was she waiting? I gotta ask because the latter just seems too big of a leap. There even isn't a point for her to leave her plan posted on an obsessive wall unless she wanted to be caught and I highly doubt that. It really doesn't make sense for Garfield to forget he had a collar because if Vic noticed it during the heist, so should he and the animal control workers. Jon even messes up leaving the door open just when he got his pets back. I know he ain't asking for it, but that is clumsy as hell. What tripped me out more than the other strays joining Garfield's birthday party when they barely know him is the fact his favorite restaurant was still able to do 6000 drone deliveries in time for him overcome the odds. Trying to ignore this nonsense is just too much to tolerate and try to ignore. To wrap up, The Garfield Movie is just so bland of a movie for not even trying to be clever compared to what we got the first time around. Whatever kind of fan you are with this character, good luck watching this.
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