‘The Garfield Movie’ Review: A Fun And Cute Film That Lands On Its Feet

I’ve been a Garfield fanatic since I was 6 years old, I’ve seen all the films they made, from the live-action ones to the old classic animated ones like the iconic Garfield Gets Real, Garfield’s Fun Fest and even the most “recent” Garfield’s Pet Force, which I recall watching in a theater! I loved all of these and Garfield has always been such an important character in my childhood. When they announced this film I had no idea what to expect and now that I’m a grown person I also have no idea how I will react with a new Garfield film and let’s just say I had so much fun with this one. From emotional moments to super funny ones, The Garfield Movie is the best animated film of the year so far.

The iconic indoor cat Garfield, brought to life by Chris Pratt’s voice, is notorious for his disdain for Mondays and his passion for lasagna. His life takes an unexpected turn when he crosses paths with his estranged father, the unkempt alley cat Vic, voiced by Samuel L. Jackson. This chance encounter propels Garfield and his dog pal Odie out of their comfort zone and into a comical, high-stakes caper alongside Vic.

And unexpectedly, The Garfield Movie is truly a heist film! I know this can be hard to accept because maybe it doesn’t seem to fit this character very well, but trust me when I say that it’s a fun, entertaining, and sometimes incredibly emotional flick that will resonate perfectly with its target audience. I can already envision kids all around the world absolutely loving this one. The story is simple, extremely simple, and the script doesn’t concern itself with logic at any point, but that’s because this film is clearly made for kids, and kids don’t really care about logic. Things will happen, and no one will know how they happened, but that’s okay because kids don’t mind that! This film is made for you to have fun and that’s pretty much it, but with that, it tries to focus on an emotional side of the story that thankfully worked, I had some tears in certain moments.

The characters are truly highlights, Garfield is slightly different than I remember, the only thing I recall is that he used to be a more “grumpy” character in the old movies but here he’s super goofy, tries to be funny all the time and of course that doesn’t come with no criticism, some jokes work but some don’t, there are many cringey jokes that just didn’t work very well for me. I think Chris Pratt did a better job in The Garfield Movie than what he did in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, I know those are two completely different roles but Garfield has a great development, he’s relationship with his dad is what made this film so especial, I truly recommend you to take yourself and your children to watch this one.

The visuals are one of my favorite things. It’s incredible what they achieved here with a reported $60M, which is extremely low considering what this movie is projected to earn! The animation is perfect and nostalgic; it reminds me of the classic films I mentioned. Even though I really had fun with this film, there are some points I must criticize. One is that sometimes the script took the laziest route possible for certain plotlines. A prime example is the reason why Vic “abandoned” his son Garfield in that box. I thought it could’ve been something more profound and meaningful, but instead, they chose something kind of silly that kind of ruined the emotional tone the film had at that moment. Minor complaints like that, but I also understand that they wanted to make an easy script so kids wouldn’t be confused by its complexity.

Animated films have not been doing good this year but The Garfield Movie is here to change this, a fun and enjoyable film that will have you “feline” good. The Garfield Movie is the best animated film of the year so far. An adorable adventure with some strong emotional beats that despite some flaws, manages to perfectly please its target audience.

The Garfield Movie releases in theaters on May 24.