The Garfield Movie review: Fun feline adventure that isn’t really a Garfield film

The Garfield Movie is an animated reboot where the lasagne-loving cat embarks on a dangerous cross-country adventure. But while it works as an entertaining action-comedy, the film fails as a Garfield flick.

Created by Jon Davis nearly 50 years ago – and starting out life in a comic strip – Garfield is a lazy orange tabby who loves lasagne, and hates Mondays. He lives with owner Jon Arbuckle and pet pooch Odie, with much of the action revolving around Garfield manipulating the pair for his own nefarious needs.

The character’s sardonic wit turned his tales into the most widely syndicated comic strip in the world, which was followed by a series of primetime cartoon specials, which in turn precipitated a merchandising empire, with plush Garfields stuck to millions of car windows throughout the 1980s.

The 2000s saw this moggy make the move into movies, with Bill Murray voicing him in a pair of films that combined animation with live-action. While now the first fully animated Garfield flick is reaching cinema screens, with a star-studded voice cast, several cracking jokes, and some unexpected high-octane action.

What is The Garfield Movie about?

The Garfield Movie combines multiple genres, being an origin story for the title character, a love story concerning cattle, a tense heist flick, and the tale of a father and son that takes some heartbreaking turns. Which is a lot.

Multiple narrative devices are used to tell those stories, including voiceover, montage, breaking of the fourth wall, and lots of flashbacks. The first of which sees young Garfield abandoned by his father down a dark alley on a stormy night. But the cute kitty quickly finds his replacement in a nearby Italian restaurant, where Jon Arbuckle is dining alone.

Columbia Pictures

The pair share pasta and pizza and it’s love at first bite, so-much-so that Garfield adopts Jon. While much to his annoyance, Jon adopts Odie, and they are soon enjoying life in the suburbs. Largely through Garfield being able to order his own take-out Italian.

These early scenes feel like those animated specials. Meaning they are funny but not exactly cinematic. So the ante is upped via a pair of hench-dogs catnapping and dognapping Garfield and Odie at the behest of an evil cat, resulting in lots of inter-species drama.

Garfield’s estranged father Vic rescues them, but the mismatched trio are then drawn into a criminal plot involving milk, angry cattle, a high-tech farm, and literal cheesy action. Scenes that turn this pampered indoor cat into an all-action outdoor moggy.

When Garfield isn’t Garfield

Which works as a busy standalone story, but rarely as a Garfield movie, the character acting less like his cartoon and comic-strip self and more akin to Tom Cruise in the Mission: Impossible movies. The iconic M:I score even pops up on the soundtrack.

There’s a nod to Garfield’s origins via a series of classic strips recreated for the silver screen. Those car window mascots also make a brief appearance, and he still doesn’t like Mondays. But this Garfield seems to like pizza more than lasagne – for a very specific visual gag – and is anything but lazy for the majority of the movie.

Eyebrows were initially raised when Chris Pratt was cast as the voice of the character. They stayed raised when the first trailer hit, and it became clear that the Guardians of the Galaxy star wouldn’t be mimicking the laconic drawl of Lorenzo Music from the cartoons, or Bill Murray from the previous films.

But this being something of a reinvention, his lively delivery makes sense in the context, with Pratt’s vocals frequently as energetic as all-action Garfield. Though it also means this is a version of the character that might not appeal to purists.

Catflix FTW

But the jokes come thick and fast throughout, with highlights including Jon Arbuckle losing his mind while searching for his pets, some Catflix action that had the children at my screening in fits of giggles, and a character called Roadkill, whose hilarious purpose we won’t spoil here.

Indeed, the only real comedic misfire is those aforementioned hench-dogs Roland and Nolan. As voiced by the very funny Brett Goldstein and Bowen Yang, they should be hilarious. But aside from the odd visual gag involving Roland’s fur, they rarely raise a laugh.

Is The Garfield Movie good?

The Garfield Movie is a curious confection, with genres colliding in awkward fashion, and sub-plots frequently coming out of nowhere, most notably a heated romance between cow and bull.

Columbia Pictures

The tone is also somewhat schizophrenic, with the comedy broad and the drama genuinely sad. That serious stuff comes in the shape of Vic and Garfield’s broken relationship, with miscommunication leading to anger and resentment. But this story strain also gives the narrative genuine depth and real heart, meaning there might be the odd tear between the movie’s many laughs.

The Garfield Movie score: 3/5

The Garfield Movie doesn’t feel like a Garfield movie, as you could drop many other animated characters into this story and it wouldn’t make much of a difference. Meaning this iteration probably isn’t for hardcore fans. But the film does work as a comedy, and an action-adventure, and a tearjerker, making The Garfield Movie a fun family flick.

Garfield: The Movie hits US and UK screens from May 24, 2024. In the meantime, check out more movies to watch this month.