‘THE GARFIELD MOVIE’ (ANIMATION; DUBBED) REVIEW | 17 May, 2024

Columbia Pictures, Alcon Entertainment, Prime Focus, One Cool Group Ltd. and Wayfarer Studios’ The Garfield Movie (animation; dubbed) is an adventure comedy.

Garfield, the world-famous indoor cat, is about to have a wild outdoor adventure! After an unexpected reunion with his long-lost father — street cat Vic — Garfield and his canine friend, Odie, are forced into joining Vic in a hilarious but risky heist.

Paul A. Kaplan, Mark Torgove and David Reynolds have written a story and screenplay, which are interesting and keep the audience engaged. Children, especially, will like the proceedings. The drama has a lot of comedy, a dash of emotions and a good dose of adventure, fun and drama. The characters of cats Garfield and Vic, dog Odie, bull Otto, cat Jinx, Jon Arbuckle (owner of Garfield and Odie) and others are so wonderful that one can’t help but fall in love with them. The voice acting, including the voice acting of Varun Sharma (for Garfield), is also good.

Mark Dindal’s direction is fantastic. Animation is absolutely brilliant. John Debney’s background music is very appealing. Pete Oswald’s production designing, and Jeanie Chang’s art direction are superb. Mark Keefer’s editing deserves distinction marks.

On the whole, The Garfield Movie is an entertainer and will, therefore, do fairly well at the ticket windows. Kids, especially, will like the film. Of course, in the final tally, the resistance to animation films will tell on the business of the dubbed Hindi version. The original English version will fare better.

Released on 17-5-’24 at Metro Inox (3D; daily 1 show) and other cinemas of Bombay by Sony Pictures Films India Pvt. Ltd. Publicity: so-so. Opening: dull. …….Also released all over. Opening was weak at most of the places.