Review by C.J. Bunce
The classic, original Garfield from the Jim Davis comic strips comes through nearly perfectly in the 2024 animated release The Garfield Movie. Twenty years after the part live-action, part animated Garfield: The Movie starred Bill Murray voicing the famous attack cat who loves lasagna, this update has 3D digital animation that may remind you of vintage View-Master reels.
It’s bright and cheery, action-packed and funny with a great soundtrack, and works at about every level, including the right amount of drama that will keep kids glued to their seat without too much peril for the animals of the story. It’s fun for everyone and a sweet family film for anyone with a heart, streaming now on Netflix.
You know The Garfield Movie is the real deal straight away as Garfield of today (voiced by Chris Pratt) takes us back to the time he first met Jon Arbuckle (voiced by Nicholas Hoult). Garfield’s cat dad leaves him behind in the rain (because of reasons to be revealed later) and adorable little Garfield sniffs his way to an Italian restaurant where Jon is eating solemnly alone. The choice of a Lady and the Tramp-inspired scene and the perfect musical score by John Debney constantly tugging at your heart strings is really all you need to know to jump aboard for the ride.
The music is so well done that if there were any justice in the industry Debney’s score would be considered at the Academy Awards come Oscar time. Debney has done it all, from The Orville to Cagney and Lacey, Dragon’s Lair and Fame, Predators, The Greatest Showman, Ice Age and The Jungle Book, the Forever TV series, Elf, Sin City, Iron Man 2, End of Days, Bruce Almighty, Liar, Liar–and most recently Kevin Costner’s Horizon. Oh, yeah, also Doctor Who, Star Trek: The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine. So don’t overlook this music as just another thing for kids.
Garfield is reunited with his biological dad, Vic, voiced by Samuel L. Jackson, when Garfield and Odie are kidnapped by Jinx, a Persian cat voiced by Hannah Waddington. Jinx has a vendetta against Vic, and holds Garfield, Odie, and Vic hostage, forcing them to steal milk from Lactose Farms in exchange for their release. The fun starts when the trio slide down pipes and crawl through the factory with some Rube Goldberg-inspired sequences, all to follow the plans of the heist, which, of course, gets averted.
The dairy farm has a lovely subplot about the farm’s mascots being in love once upon a time, but since separated. That’s Ving Rhames with the voice of purple Highland bull Otto, and Alicia Grace Terrell voicing Ethel the cow. This subplot echoes the perils of farm life found in the brilliant 2017 animated film Ferdinand, one of the best animated movies of all time (reviewed here). Otto is an excellent character, willing to do anything to be reunited with Ethel, and eager to help Garfield, Odie, and Vic in their heist, so long as it helps Otto and Ethel reunite. The Mission: Impossible-style plan scene is that much better considering Rhames is one of the co-stars of that long-running movie franchise. It’s Otto that lays out the big plan. Garfield’s constant jokes about Rhames’ deliberate cadence are hysterically funny.
Garfield is updated in all the right ways. He isn’t just a lazy, fat cat. He’s not unpleasantly snarky as depicted in past adaptations. He’s three-dimensional internally and externally this time. Odie is that affable sidekick we all love, and Pooky comes along for the ride, too. Ample lasagna and cheese fill in the blanks.
Cecily Strong voices dreaded security guard Marge Malone, life-long nemesis to Otto the bull. She’s a villain that will remind you of all the Aardman Animation films. She’s so much like those characters you might wish someone spent a little more money to let Aardman work its magic with stop motion characters. But even as a digital animation, this works just fine.
The story missed some good opportunities to be better. The script never discusses Garfield’s mom and finding away to allow the villain Jinx to find a happy ending in a permanent home, instead of relegating her to community service. It’s a kids movie and kids will be sympathetic to Jinx, so don’t be surprised if they bring this up, too. Ultimately everyone else gets their happily ever after.
You might watch the whole movie and not notice most of the famous actors behind the voices, especially Pratt and Hoult. They just sound like Garfield and Jon, modified enough that you won’t be constantly thinking of the voice actors. Jackson’s voice behind Vic is easier to hear, as is Ving Rhames behind Otto. Happily the actors do not distract from the show being about reuniting the audience with these familiar, lovable characters. Is this Samuel L. Jackson’s sweetest character yet? It’s certainly Rhames’ most suave role since Kojak. Other voices include Snoop Dogg voicing a cat with an eyepatch and Jeff Foxworthy voicing a bird.
The movie includes a handful of spunky pop songs, the best of which (and most catchy) is “Good Life” by Jon Batiste. But all the songs and the score will be worth picking up–it’s on par with the best Disney animated movie albums (it’s available here at Amazon).
It’s one fantastic cat movie and those who grew up with Garfield comic strips in the newspaper will love this one. The Garfield Movie is now streaming on Netflix.
