The Garfield Movie

For parents hoping for a bit of nostalgia, you may want to just drop the kids off at the cinema and then sit in the car and fire up the old Garfield cartoons on YouTube.

Hyperkinetic stuff, lots of famous voice stars, almost no relationship to the original source... it just let me thinking of Bill Murray.

As [Garfield] used to say, “Big fat hairy deal”. What more is there to add?

This animated take on the adventures of the plus-sized ginger sourpuss is a refreshing step up from the lazy, lasagne-based humour of the live(ish) action versions.

May sport a deep knowledge of film history to delight cinephile parents, but it is still a kiddie movie and comes with the same zany, harried energy one might expect from such a project.

Unlike lasagna, Garfield the cat lacks layers.

Pratt is essentially on autopilot in the title role, but the rest of the cast makes up for his shortcomings.

Garfield as a character lives in a perpetual present defined by his most urgent needs: food, sleep, the tormenting of Odie. Suddenly giving him a backstory is antithetical to the notion of the character itself.

"The Garfield Movie" may not be the strongest tale overall, but it’s solid enough to stave away those Monday blues … at least for 100 minutes or so.

The Garfield Movie features a decent vocal cast and some fine animation, but unfortunately it comes up a little short in the story department with its somewhat ho-hum combined tale of family drama & heist thriller.