‘The Garfield Movie’ Review Roundup: Is It Worth The Watch?

INTRODUCTION.

In May 2024, a new animation came out, coinciding with the 20th anniversary of the first live-action Garfield movie from 2004 and the 40th anniversary of the Garfield TV special “Garfield in the Rough” from 1984.

This new movie, “The Garfield Movie” (2024), is an animated adventure comedy inspired by Jim Davis’ famous comic strip. Mark Dindal directed it, with the screenplay crafted by Paul A. Kaplan, Mark Torgove, and David Reynolds.

Chris Pratt lends his voice to Garfield, the sarcastic and lazy orange cat character, and he’s joined by a star-studded cast including Samuel L. Jackson, Hannah Waddingham, Ving Rhames, Nicholas Hoult, Cecily Strong, Harvey Guillén, Brett Goldstein, Bowen Yang, and Snoop Dogg.

The film hit theaters in the US on May 24, 2024, courtesy of Columbia Pictures via Sony Pictures Releasing. It’s rated PG for some action, mild thematic elements, and it runs for 1 hour and 41 minutes.

WHAT IS THE GARFIELD MOVIE ABOUT? SYNOPSIS/PLOT.

In a kind of origin-like storytelling, we witness the abandonment of a young Garfield by his father, Vic. This theme takes center stage, somehow overshadowing the character of Jon. When Garfield and his ‘friend’ Odie are abducted, they find themselves in the company of the cat Jinx and her two service dogs, Roland and Nolan.

The sudden kidnapping of Garfield raises questions, which are eventually answered when Vic reappears, though Garfield remains resistant to any connection with him. It becomes evident that Vic’s actions had underlying reasons beyond initial assumptions. This adds a layer of predictability to the storyline, particularly for older viewers.

This films direction suggests the film’s target audience under 10 years old. However, despite this, the movie still manages to entertain older viewers, offering enjoyment beyond its primary demographic.

MY THOUGHTS ON GARFIELD.

The cartoon-like animation The Garfield Movie(2024)… is such a drop-down from Garfield (2004). This is surprising and I’ll fill you in on why this is so. I must say though, this was funny and thrilling, mostly because of the action and the fun dialogue but as for humor, it didn’t quite reach the height with was set.

CHARACTER PERFORMANCE.

I can’t talk about The Garfield Movie without mentioning the Garfield live-action movie. Garfield is known to have a “lazy” type of voice. Not saying the voice actor didn’t do his best but I feel the  Garfield in this movie doesn’t have that kind of effect. 

Garfield works because he is a fun character, but he still doesn’t manage to have his best adventure on screen unlike Odie, who incredibly has more brilliant moments in the film without saying a single word.

 Odie was very different from that character in the comics. He used to be an abused sidekick who was always in the way and very stupid…in a way. Here he didn’t even have as much screen time.

The thing is that Jon didn’t have a major role, there was more pizza than lasagna, and no Liz.

A film designed to fulfill and generate quick and easy money, but as a new proposal that comes to give us something more refreshing from our beloved cat, this is not the best option.

VISUAL DESIGN AND CINEMATOGRAPHY.

The animation itself is average and nothing more than that. Nowadays it is difficult for most animated films to be different, given that they are most similar in style. Well, it was not expected in advance that we would get to see an artistic masterpiece, so in that respect, the film succeeds in that area with flying colors.

The music was a positive point, this was in the hands of composer John Debney, and at some points, the music was completely reminiscent of the beautiful melancholic sounds that Thomas Newman often makes. In the end, the big picture is crazy fun and you won’t be bored for seconds.

The humor is good and fun and things like Catflix where Garfield watches cat movies are hilarious. In the end, you have to stay there during the credits for the funny cat movies that continue to play when the credits start rolling.

The computer animation has quality but it would have been better if it had been done with old-school style animation.

WRITING STYLE AND STORY.

Garfield has become a successful and funny movie for the whole family. The jokes are fun, the animation is fine and Garfield and Odie get the laughs on their hands very often. Perhaps the predictability of the film could have been a little less because this only makes the film suitable for children up to 10 years old, but well, this is not something you should also care about, because the film is just too fun for that.

The plot is far-fetched, the story is weird and has holes, but all that doesn’t matter because it technically is a children’s movie. I enjoyed the jokes and the animation quite a lot.

THEMES.

The film explores themes of forgiveness, understanding, and the complexities of father-son relationships, even furry ones! ‍ It turns out Garfield has some daddy drama, but don’t worry, you’ll love all of it.

AUDIENCE COMMENTS.

CONCLUSION.

Despite a predictable twist about Garfield’s past, The Garfield Movie (2024) delivers laughs for all ages. It is a a little messy, yeah, but it is also undeniably entertaining. It might not be the most award-winning film out there, but who needs awards when you have lasagna, laughter, and maybe even a tear or two? 

One more thing,  if you hear hissing during the credits, that’s probably just Garfield – he might be grumpy about Mondays, but even he can’t resist a good cat video marathon!

People also watch – Ladybug & Cat Noir: Awakening(2023).

Images or videos used in this work belongs to the respective movie and its copyright holders. We do not claim any legal rights or ownership over this image, and we appreciate the movie’s creators for sharing such a captivating visual.

Please sign up for our newsletter to be alerted when new content is published and also, don’t forget to leave your thoughts in the comment section.

Note : If you subscribe to our newsletter, the review sent to your email is automatically routed to the promotion mail area, but you can move it to your primary inbox by adding our email to your address book by clicking the ‘Add us to your address book‘ button at the end of our review email.