Garfield - The Movie (DVD)

...child, I was given a Garfield book at one point, I don't remember the name of it other than that it was a book full of his comic strips and on the front cover was a photo of Garfield either singing or talking into a microphone, with a spotlight on him and a blue background. Its funny the random memories you have of stuff like this but I really liked the book, the comic strips were funny and witty and felt not altogether totally for kids, like they ...
...I was too old for Garfield and that it wasn't a proper book! the cheek of it! im certain there are people much older than 10-12 (cant remember my exact age then) who read Garfield, right?! anyway, since then as an older kid and teen, I got a few more paperback books and one time I got a magazine thing that celebrated his 21st birthday I think, which is probably still kicking around somewhere or other (might be a collectors item, I dunno). Oh and ... more

- Introduction -

When I was growing up as a child, I was given a Garfield book at one point, I don't remember the name of it other than that it was a book full of his comic strips and on the front cover was a photo of Garfield either singing or talking into a microphone, with a spotlight on him and a blue background. Its funny the random memories you have of stuff like this but I really liked the book, the comic strips were funny and witty and felt not altogether totally for kids, like they had a bit of adult, or more grown up, humour to them and at my then age of about 8-10 to start with, I liked that. I also recall once at school when we had this book club thing, I offered it to be swapped but was told off by the teacher, being told I was too old for Garfield and that it wasn't a proper book! the cheek of it! im certain there are people much older than 10-12 (cant remember my exact age then) who read Garfield, right?! anyway, since then as an older kid and teen, I got a few more paperback books and one time I got a magazine thing that celebrated his 21st birthday I think, which is probably still kicking around somewhere or other (might be a collectors item, I dunno). Oh and I also used to be a fan of the old cartoon they used to show when I was growing up on ITV, you know the one that also featured cartoons about the farmyard animals (what was that called? animal farm or something... not the George Orwell thing, you know what I mean!).

So anyway to get back on topic so to speak, I've been a bit of a fan of the lazy lasagne loving cat for some time. I was aware of the movie from movie shows and so on in the past but as it was clearly made for kids in mind, I'd never bothered to invest in seeing it in the cinema or on DVD. This is just the sort of movie that, when shown on TV for free, I'll gladly check out, to satisfy the child like side of me I suppose, if that makes any sense lol anyway I was especially keen on to see this when I noticed while reading the Radio Times that noted it was on ITV1 yesterday (December 26th 2007) that Bill Murray voiced Garfield, being a bit of a fan of his movies too, so I thought yup, I've got to have a watch of this, so, uh, well, basically, I did!

- Main Credits (non-actors, which are mentioned further on in the review) -
Source:- IMDB (see:-http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0356634/fullcredits)

Director - Peter Hewitt
Writer (original comic strip) - Jim Davis
Writers (movie) - Joel Cohen & Alec Sokolow
Producer - John Davis
Co-Producer - Michelle Imperato
Associate Producer - John Kilkenny
Executive Producers - Neil A. Machlis & Brian Manis
Cinematography - Dean Cundey

- Story (incl. main acting cast) -

Garfield the movie is all about one big fat, lasagne loving cat (good rhyme, huh?) called, you'll never guess, you got it, Garfield! who, in this movie, is a rather larger than life CGI/computer generated cat who's voiced by Bill Murray. Now Garfield is rather self centered, being perfectly happy with his life with his owner Jon (played by Breckin Meyer), until one day at the vets when his vet (played by Jennifer Love Hewitt), who Jon happens to be rather smitten for, suggests that he gets himself a dog. It just so happens that she has one there to give him too, a rather cute puppy called Odie. Garfield is rather horrified when he discovers that this newcomer has arrived, for instance he was never allowed to sleep on Jons bed but he's shocked to find that Jon lets Odie sleep on his bed, so obviously this will never do and he becomes somewhat jealous of Odie, being the new pet and he feels that he gets more attention. Soon, Odies rather amusing dance talents (discovered through Garfield and Odie getting their groove on to a BEP music video on the TV while Jon is out) are discovered at a dog show, where Garfield secretly hitched a lift and causes chaos and it just so happens that an animal talent TV rep (type person!) is there and spotting Odies talents, decides to pass to Jon his card, telling him that Odie could make it big in showbusiness!

When Garfield accidentally causes a rather large mess at home, Jon angrily puts him outside and this angers Garfield even more. To cut to the chase (and to not give away the entire movie), Garfield is rather cruel to Odie and he ends up running away, which of course worries Jon and Liz (the vet as mentioned before, played by Jennifer Love Hewitt), who go out of their way to try and find him. Garfield, feeling bad about what happened, spots a clue to where he is and himself runs off to try and track him down and be the big hero to his owner Jon.

Will Garfield be able to track Odie? will Odie be ok? will Jon find either or both of them? yup, you'll just have to watch the movie to find out! (boy do I love saying that hehe its cheesy but good!).

- Genre/Themes etc. -

This is very much a non-offensive, fairly run of the mill kids movie. Some older people (like me ahem) may well enjoy it if its shown for free on TV again, if your quite a big Garfield fan but otherwise really its genre is very much in childrens/family movies. There is also the CGI/computer generated side to it too, though its quite cool in that its not all done through CGI, with just the character of Garfield being computer generated, this means that you see alot of facial expressions on his character but everyone else he interacts with are all live action, real life actors, actresses and Odie is a real life puppy/dog too.

I suppose the main theme thats touched upon in this movie would be selfishness and the consequences of that, as should be fairly clear from the plot explained above.

- My Thoughts/Opinions -

I thought that for a kids movie, its pretty good. I felt that its not really anything to write home about, so to speak, I've seen more imaginative storylines for/in kids movies before but there's nothing really all that bad about it either.

It won't really make all Garfield fans happy, for more adult fans like me, you will, if your not aware of the target audience the movie was made aiming for (ie young kids), be a bit disappointed. Its true to say that kids do like Garfield comic strips etc., but they are also popular to older people too, some of the comic strips are really quite witty. I thought that using Bill Murray to voice Garfield was a good choice, you can get a feel for Garfields arrogance through his voice, he voices him well and the dialogue does have some witty points, again nothing all that amazing or really to write home about but still, not bad all the same.

With the story being what it is, don't expect something outrageously great, it is a bit thin on the ground and I do feel that perhaps a more interesting or less predictable story could have been devised, to make this a bit better... having said that, I did manage to watch through to the end of the movie, I didn't feel like it was as bad as some kids movies where im completely bored rigid and can't stand to watch any more. Which is impressive considering yes im a fair bit older than the target audience lol but still, as a Garfield fan with a chance to see it for free, why not watch say I?! I do feel that I missed a bit, with my memory of the middle part of the movie a bit fuzzy and now I wonder how some parts of the story made sense but overall I felt it still entertained me as much as could be expected for a kids or family movie. If I had young children, I would have no worries or doubts about putting this on. The only real downside to me was that the story could have been just that bit more, well, interesting or better really... more imaginative. The sequel, a tale of two kitties, interests me more but ill most likely still wait until thats shown on freeview TV again possibly at Christmas before I check that one out lol though I do also feel that perhaps a bit more interesting dialogue could have been added, that might have made it funnier for older audiences to satisfy older Garfield fans. As it was, it was ok, still a somewhat average but decent entertaining movie for kids (I good introduction to Garfield for children) but it maybe could have been better, thats how I feel overall.

- Certificate -

Garfield The Movie is rated U, so obviously there's nothing to worry about, being suitable for all. I can confirm that having watched it, I didn't feel at all offended by any of the material, there's no bad language, violence, sex or drug references, nothing like that at all and as I've already said, I would have no reservations about putting this movie on if I had young children.

- Official Website -

http://www.foxhome.com/garfieldthemovie/main.html

Here you'll find information on the movies story, the crew and production, as well as info. on the DVD, the movie trailer, some games and a photo gallery, as well as a wallpaper creator.

- Conclusions -

The CGI is pretty good for the character of larger than life Garfield and in some ways, the movie stays safely faithful to the comic, with Jon being, well, quite Jon-like and Garfield being that same ol' lazy, fat, selfish and lasagne loving cat, so no changes there, eh?! lol I do just feel that the story was a bit unimaginative... so that lets it down and because of that, it doesn't get a 5 star rating from me. Also, as I say, it could have had a bit more dialogue that might have appealed to older viewers so it would be of more interest to a wider audience, instead it is firmly a kids or at best family, movie.

Having said that, it works perfectly well as a kids movie, I can imagine kids would find this movie funny and entertaining, especially watching the CGI Garfield and seeing his over exaggerated comic expressions and actions. Its funny to see how a CGI character reacts and interacts with the live action/real life characters, like Jon and Odie. Its nice to see movies like this that combine CGI technology with real life, I feel that there are too many fully CGI based movies and possibly too many real life ones too, its always interesting to see how real life characters (actors, actresses & real life animals (etc.)) interact with characters that are essentially not there, if you know what I mean. Plus I remember being a kid, I was always somewhat mesmorised by CGI characters on screen, of course back then (late 80s+) it was the cutting edge of technology but I think it still applies, kids seeing this on screen should think that its pretty cool and if they were to have used a real life cat, it definately wouldn't have been as good.

This is a movie worth watching or getting if your looking for something to briefly entertain your young 'uns and if you want your kids to be introduced to Garfield, then this should do the job well enough but if your an older fan thats looking for a bit more substance and more of an ode to the wittiest comic strips, this won't really satisfy you.

Also I didn't feel that it was the sort of movie that you, or possibly kids, would want to watch more than once, really, so I'd recommend either renting it or watching it through PPV (pay per view), unless you find it on DVD second hand cheap. I only saw it on TV and thus I can't comment on any special features, though im sure the DVD will have some but hence why this is a film only review.

I hope you found my review useful in deciding whether to see the movie, thanks for reading! 

...less