The early reviews for the new Garfield Movie are in, and they’re not the cat’s meow. Several critics described the movie as predictable and something of a hairball, others praised the shiny and colorful animation and noted that younger viewers will be happy to watch the origin story of Jim Davis’ lasagna-loving, Monday-hating tabby.
The Columbia/Icon release currently has a 49% score on the online review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. Directed by Mark Dindal, the film chronicles Garfield’s (voiced by Chris Pratt) wild outdoor adventure after an unexpected reunion with his long-lost father, scruffy street cat Vic (voiced by Samuel L. Jackson). The cast also includes. Hannah Waddingham, Ving Rhames, Nicholas Hoult, Cecily Strong, Harvey Guillen, Brett Goldstein, Bowen Yang and Snoop Dogg.
Here is a sampler of what the critics had to say about the new movie, which is projected to bring in over $30 million during its Memorial Day release in the U.S:
“All of these choices amount to a production that fundamentally misunderstands Garfield’s appeal as a lovingly indifferent, self-centered glutton whose greatest aspiration is to do nothing and have all his needs catered to him. It’s a Garfield movie for audiences who have never heard of Garfield, which reads as an attempt at erasing history and reintroducing him in this high-octane, overly stimulated form for a generation with reduced attention spans.”
— Carlos Aguilar, Variety
“The rudimentary animation does the film no favors, nor does the lead vocal turn by Pratt, who strangely has become one of Hollywood’s go-to animation stars … His colorless vocal work here pales in comparison with his predecessors Bill Murray who voiced the character in the two live-action movies, and Lorenzo Music, who played it brilliantly for so many years on television. The strange result is a Garfield without attitude.”
— Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter
“A curious new animated attempt to monetize the comic icon again by giving him an origin story and then asking him to do things a galaxy away from what he does in the funny pages. It’s like if Snoopy ran an underground bare-knuckle fight club.”
— Mark Kennedy, Associated Press
“Is this a kids’ movie or a commercial? And if it’s the latter, a commercial for what exactly? Certainly not more movies like this.”
— Kate Erbland, Indiewire
“When I say The Garfield Movie is the best Garfield movie, it’s going to sound like faint praise. Because it is. But faint praise is still praise. While this new film isn’t especially funny it’s still a reasonably enjoyable kids flick. It’s short on laughs but surprisingly big on tenderness.”
— William Bibiani, The Wrap
