...I'm so sorry. I wanted to give this one a chance; Mark Dindal is certainly interesting. Cats Don't Dance was pretty decent, Emperor's New Groove is very funny and entertaining, and Chicken Little is way too mean for my taste.
The Garfield Movie had potential, but just not enough cheesy goodness.
Positives: the animation and music are solid... that's it. Everything else was all over the place.
Yeah, that's it. I don't want to sound too harsh, but the comedy is hit or miss (most of the better gags are already in the trailers), some of the characters are forgettable (I already forgot the villIan), the plot was all over the place, Jon gets hugely sidelined for 90% of the whole film, I didn't get most of the pop culture references, and my biggest issue? The pacing.
It's either way too quick (like Jon's worried phone calls) or waaaaay too slow (I felt the ending took forever to wrap things up); plus a few tonal whiplashes which caught me off guard or I later found distracting.
I also found Vic and Garfield's back and fourth through the first half a tad bit grating, the subplot with Otto and his "night" wasn't really needed, the villain's plan was very weak (plus their sidekicks turning good, last millisecond), and I also wasn't a fan of Chris Pratt as Garfield; you couldn't have hired Frank Welker? Not to mention the multiple plot beats we've seen in other animated films, and sooo much better.
Sooo yeah, it's frustratingly... eh! It could've been great if it scrapped the Otto plot entirely, focused more on Jon actually looking for Garfield and Odie, if the villain had a much better scheme, vice versa.
There is a lot of potential for an animated Garfield movie, but this one's just awkwardly paced, bland, and safe. It's a harmless hour and a half; and just because it's a kid's film, that doesn't excuse it from its flaws (there's SO many better films for that demographic).
As a person who appreciates and adores the art of filmmaking, I wanted to have fun with this one, and there were a few laughs - but thinking about it some more, I want to have a better lasagna.
The Garfield Movie had potential, but just not enough cheesy goodness.
Positives: the animation and music are solid... that's it. Everything else was all over the place.
Yeah, that's it. I don't want to sound too harsh, but the comedy is hit or miss (most of the better gags are already in the trailers), some of the characters are forgettable (I already forgot the villIan), the plot was all over the place, Jon gets hugely sidelined for 90% of the whole film, I didn't get most of the pop culture references, and my biggest issue? The pacing.
It's either way too quick (like Jon's worried phone calls) or waaaaay too slow (I felt the ending took forever to wrap things up); plus a few tonal whiplashes which caught me off guard or I later found distracting.
I also found Vic and Garfield's back and fourth through the first half a tad bit grating, the subplot with Otto and his "night" wasn't really needed, the villain's plan was very weak (plus their sidekicks turning good, last millisecond), and I also wasn't a fan of Chris Pratt as Garfield; you couldn't have hired Frank Welker? Not to mention the multiple plot beats we've seen in other animated films, and sooo much better.
Sooo yeah, it's frustratingly... eh! It could've been great if it scrapped the Otto plot entirely, focused more on Jon actually looking for Garfield and Odie, if the villain had a much better scheme, vice versa.
There is a lot of potential for an animated Garfield movie, but this one's just awkwardly paced, bland, and safe. It's a harmless hour and a half; and just because it's a kid's film, that doesn't excuse it from its flaws (there's SO many better films for that demographic).
As a person who appreciates and adores the art of filmmaking, I wanted to have fun with this one, and there were a few laughs - but thinking about it some more, I want to have a better lasagna.