Review of Garfield (2004) by Dawdlingpoet — 28 Nov 2021

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 (a good introduction to Garfield for children) but it maybe could have been better, thats how I feel overall.