Review of Marmaduke (2010) by Kerry T — 14 Dec 2010

As family films about pets (dogs specifically) tend to be a hit, Marmaduke takes the scene for 2010 and stars a clever cast of other dogs and even a cool cat. As Marmaduke (who is a Great Dane) works his way into the hearts of the young audience and brings a wide array of other furry friends with him, young children should be quite entertainedâ¦as long as they are extremely undemanding.

The cute story begins with a young family of five moving (along with Marmaduke and Carlos the cat) to Orange County where they all must make new friendsâ¦including the animals. Fortunately, a mutt named Mazie makes fast friends with him. But Marmaduke has an uncontrollable knack for Mischief, which gets him into big troubleâ¦guess whatâ(TM)s coming?!

The voice cast here is fun and Wilson is great as Marmaduke. Emma Stone (speedily climbing her way up the Hollywood latter) also is quite recognizable as the kind Mazie and even William H. Macy makes his way into the scene. The story is formulaic as ever and reverts to a formula just like the story of Lassie, though kids should still be entertained. And stories in which the animal becomes a âtop dogâ? hero seem to well with most types. Now if only we could find some adult viewers who donâ(TM)t mind seeing a kidâ(TM)s movie just because their kid wants to, we would be in good shape.

Attractive landscapes of the West coast also compensate for an enjoyable kidsâ(TM) film and the actors sure seem to be in good form. An ending scene with all the furry friends dancing (is this possibly computer generated?) may make some viewers laugh hysterically, roll their eyes or both. Stay through the end credits for a cool collage of end credit art, which may be the best feature of the whole film.