“The Garfield Movie” Is a Bit Cheesy

The Garfield Movie (Mark Dindal, 2024) 2 out of 5 stars

Mark Dindal’s The Garfield Movie had some major shoes to fill. Revisiting such a classic set of characters and putting a modern spin on their antics to adapt to today’s young audiences is now a common move in Hollywood, but a bold one, nonetheless. There are parents and grandparents in the audiences that have had their own versions of Garfield, and while the style has perhaps changed, or maybe even the medium, the core of the franchise has stayed consistent through the years. This film is no different … generally speaking.

With Chris Pratt (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3) starring as the titular Garfield, we follow this lasagna-loving cat through the trials of reuniting with his father, Otto (Ving Rhames, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One), and learning to be a better person (or … cat?). There isn’t a whole lot of plot to delve into, as the film delivers some very predictable, but tried and true, story beats for a silly kids’ adventure, but it was entertaining from start to finish and had a few well-deserved laughs.

Where the film falls short is that it does not particularly cement itself as a classic in the sphere of the Garfield IP. Nothing sets it apart from other remakes of a similar nature. I wasn’t disappointed leaving the theater, but there was an unsettling indifference for the ending to such an anticipated film.

Garfield The Movie was fine. It was adequate, down to the many jokes about same-day delivery and the obvious product placements. It just won’t necessarily be on repeat at daycare.

Treasure McCorkle

Treasure McCorkle is an award-winning screenwriter and producer from Baltimore, Maryland. She has worked on many different projects in many roles, ranging from directing and producing to assisting art departments and providing casting direction, including the feature film Stealing Cars and her college-thesis film, AVA. In addition to this, Treasure has written many other acclaimed short films, ranging from family drama to psychological horror. Treasure is currently working on many different projects, including the development of audio drama series Valleyfell. You can see examples of her film work at treasuremccorkle.com .