Parents' Guide to Garfield

The plot of this comedy neither makes sense nor captures viewers' interest, but there are some pleasantly silly moments along the way. In order to turn Garfield from a three-panel comic that wasn't written for children into a feature film for the whole family, the people behind this movie tried to have it both ways. Garfield begins as the unabashedly self-centered, wisecracking character from the comic strip but then somehow (it's not clear how) transforms into a loyal friend who's willing to take big risks to save the dog he once considered a rival.

As in the comic strip, the human characters here are bland and barely visible. The stars are the animals, all of whom (except Garfield) are live-action, with animation for facial expressions and lip flap. Garfield is the only animated character. He's redesigned from the classic comic to look slightly more realistic, but it just makes him look like a knock-off of the real thing. Highlights include a dance-off between Garfield and Odie to a Black-Eyed Peas song, a wild ride through air ducts and stairs as Garfield tries to find Odie, and some just-to-keep-the-parents-awake references to Jerry Maguire, Apocalypse Now, Elvis, Billy Joel, and even Shakespeare's Henry V. Drawbacks include rampant fatphobic comments about Garfield's weight, one-dimensional female characters, and some casual racism with the only Black voice actor playing a mouse who lives on the streets.