The odds felt a bit stacked against The Garfield Movie. From afar, it seemed like it could easily fall into the trap of an overly-mined IP combined with celebrity stunt casting and end up going nowhere good at all. Happily, The Garfield Movie actually ends up being a lot of fun, although many of its component parts seem a bit random when considered with more scrutiny. Still, is Garfield really a cat that wants to go too deep? Probably not. For those who enjoyed Garfield comic strips as children and for those who are children or have them, The Garfield Movie is a perfectly enjoyable way to spend an afternoon in the realm of talking animals, product placement, and pleasant animation.
Fun is really the ultimate buzzword for The Garfield Movie. Does the film being fun account for why there were so many products, from Popchips to Olive Garden, flashed in The Garfield Movie? Or add more meaning to the movie’s decision to pay homage to different genres of cinema? Not really. But while many elements of The Garfield Movie didn’t make much sense, they still made the audience laugh and entertained while they were present on the screen. Who doesn’t want to see Garfield participate in a heist? Or suddenly parachute into an action-adventure-style movie complete with the actual Top Gun soundtrack? Or become a Noir detective cloaked in the shadow of night? Why did this happen? Who knows. Why not? The Garfield Movie seems to ask. And, hey, we guess as long as the audience is entertained, the chief purpose of Garfield throughout the ages, why not, indeed?
After all, the earliest incarnation of Garfield played a bit like cat videos before the internet existed for cat videos to spread. And The Garfield Movie seems to know these origins and accept them into its core. It doesn’t matter what the cat is doing in a cat video, as long as the cat is cute. (And no one is cuter than baby Garfield.)
The Garfield Movie also more literally pays homage to the greatest hits of Garfield. There’s a Monday-hating-montage, a lasagna origin story, and even Pooky is present. There are also some well-delivered fourth-wall breaks. If you’re a Garfield aficionado, you’ll have a fun time picking out the references and Easter eggs from the orange cat’s long life. And if you’re new to the story, these pieces will still make for some enjoyable oddities. The Garfield Movie also truly understands Garfield’s love of food. The way different forms of food are incorporated into the plot is one of the genius elements of The Garfield Movie that does make a lot of sense.
Garfield stalwarts Jon Arbuckle and Odie are naturally also present and add a nice balance to Garfield’s grumpy laziness. Odie is by far the star of The Garfield Movie, despite, of course, his lack of any actual words. Full kudos to Harvey Guillén for bringing Odie to life with yips and yaps and managing to make him a smart, loyal, and downright heroic pup.
Jon Arbuckle, meanwhile, achieves his best Garfield form to date, in my opinion. Unlike in other Garfield stories, Jon isn’t incompetent, snarly, or pathetic. Instead, he’s just a man who loves his pets very much. And who among us who has pets doesn’t love them very much? In a story devoted to pets of all kinds, making Jon into nothing more and nothing less than a great pet dad seems like the best form for him to take. In this fashion, he’s best able to play surrogate to the audience. Nicholas Hoult brings just the right cadence to the table.
New to the franchise is Garfield’s dad, Vic, played by Samuel L. Jackson. And without spoiling anything, there’s more to the story of why he’s not in Garfield’s life any more than meets the eye. But it’s fun to see where Garfield gets it from. Also appearing in The Garfield movie are the villainous diva cat Jinx (Hannah Waddingham), her odd-couple henchmen, Nolan and Roland, and Otto and Ethel, a bull and cow in love. All these animals have distinct personalities and are instantly likable in their own ways.
Ultimately, The Garfield Movie‘s greatest strength lies in its embrace of the idea that being a misfit or a weirdo is awesome. The notion of building a found family and staying true to yourself is strong. The movie hammers home that it’s okay to grow, change, and heal while retaining the heart of who you are. And that’s a message we could all use more of. The movie also contains a surprising dose of body positivity, which feels appreciated.
And finally, we’re sure you asked yourself will Chris Pratt do a good job of voicing Garfield in The Garfield Movie? And the truth is that Pratt’s casting here is inoffensive. Save for a few moments, Pratt’s voice is not distractingly associated with the man himself and sounds different enough that it doesn’t take a viewer out of the movie. Did Pratt do anything as remarkable as Garfield in The Garfield Movie? Not really. But that’s in theme with the rest of the film.
In summary, The Garfield Movie is a nice way to get lost in a different world for a little while. It probably won’t change your life, but it might make just under two hours of it a little more enjoyable.