By Jennifer Ariesta
In The Garfield Movie, the popular lasagna-loving orange cartoon cat is kidnapped from his beloved recliner to embark on an adventure he absolutely did not want.
After two live-action movies as a CGI cat among human actors, the comic strip feline feels more at home now in a 3D cartoon that captures its comical spirit better.
The plot is an origin story of the sassy-mouthed kitty, but it’s not what you think. Like Garfield said in the beginning of the movie, the film is about someone in his life we’ve never met before. The two staple characters in Garfield’s life, Jon and Odie, are still here, but the film focuses on Garfield and Vic, the father who abandoned him as a kitten. Vic is a conman who gets Garfield and Odie kidnapped by a bunch of crooked stray animals with a grudge against him. In exchange for their lives, Garfield and Vic are sent to rob a milk factory. Along the way, the father and son try to resolve their lifelong misunderstanding.
Right off the bat, the film makes the interesting choice to place the two most important side characters in Garfield-verse as mere background characters in exchange for the classic ‘ol daddy issue conflict. It’s frankly an overdone plot device with nothing new to offer, but the cuteness of the story more than makes up for it.
Despite their minimal roles, Jon and Odie get some fun things to do in the story. Odie is no longer the subject of Garfield’s annoyance. Instead, he’s now Garfield’s trusted sidekick slash personal assistant, a ball of positivity despite not saying a word. It’s adorable how Odie’s always ready to cater to whatever Garfield needs without sulking or grumbling. Sulking and grumbling are primarily Garfield’s forte, along with maximizing Jon’s credit card for online deliveries (Jon is mainly just Garfield’s sugar daddy in this).
While the plot is nothing to write home about, the film is simply bursting with witty fun. It made some cute references to movies like Mission: Impossible and Top Gun: Maverick, which come in handy since they’re all from Paramount. It’s such an unexpectedly pleasant crossover to have Mission: Impossible theme song plays during Garfield’s heist, or Top Gun’s flashy airborne sequence emulated in comical fashion. They’re so unnecessary, but like Disney and Warner Bros do with all the IPs under their belts: if you’ve got it, you flaunt it.
Another thing the movie flaunts is its long list of big brands product placements. FedEx, Sony, Olive Garden, Walmart – the film is one long advertisement, cleverly interwoven with Garfield’s chronic shopping habit. Some might loathe it, some might enjoy it, but it’s one of the few films where things like this can work.
The rest of the film is a vibrant, silly fun that you don’t have to think too deeply about. Like the Minions franchise, embracing silly, dumb fun is enough sometimes.
Perfect for a relaxing watch with the kids, The Garfield Movie is the ultimate “turn your brain off and just sit back” kinda movie. Certainly, its orange protagonist would totally approve of that last part.
