Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties

Am I really expected to review this? Are there any doubts as to my opinions regarding the film? Seriously? Sigh. All right. Whatever. Here: If you loved the first one then go see this; otherwise you'll want to avoid it like Kevin Federline avoids work.

I just don't have the energy to tear this to shreds. It'd be the equivalent of beating up a five-year-old - way too easy to be any fun. After all, it's the five-year-old demographic that the film is targeting. Well, plus the old person audience who thinks all forms of talking animals are cute.

Little kids will likely enjoy it. I was in a theater full of 'em, and they cackled at every burp and flatulence joke, and they howled every time Billy Connolly (trying hard to summon John Cleese) got bit in the crotch by a dog or slammed in the head by a household appliance. Meanwhile, I just stared stone-faced at the screen, as if I were at a Paris Hilton poetry reading.

I'm sure some of you parents will enjoy it (it's a slight step up from the original), but the majority will most likely be bored beyond comprehension and should probably start trying to convince the wee one that he needs to see Cars again.

All of you fathers who think Jennifer Love Hewitt's presence will be your saving grace, well, bad news - she's hardly in this at all. She'll provide you a few minutes of solace but will quickly and cruelly be whisked off screen so that we can be entertained by such images as Garfield bathing in a bidet and a weasel climbing up Connolly's trousers.

Yeah.

If that sounds like suitable entertainment to you then by all means, slap those Hamiltons on the counter. It's your retirement savings that you're gambling with, not mine.

THE GIST

Eh. Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties is strictly for those who were fans of the first movie, die-hard fans of Garfield, or those two young to form completely coherent sentences.

I did not know this was a children's movie. After all, Shrek, Monsters Inc., Toy Story, etc., appeal to children, but are also squarely aimed at adults. Garfield, Tale of Two Kitties is squarely aimed at younger folk, with a few mild chuckles for the parents. It was colorful, well done, excellent quality, etc. but let's face it, by being designed for 5-10 year-olds, it also had to be really sloooooooow.

Brekin Myer is a charming actor with good vibes. So is the chick--- Jennifer Love Hewitt. Likable people. The British supporting cast (note that the movie starts in America, but moves to an English location soon enough) is also excellent. Billy Connoly plays an odious villain; I find that comedian rather odious in person, myself. But I must confess he seemed to be a good actor--- maybe his odi-osity was due to great acting ability? Anyway--- Bob Hoskins is a hoot as the bulldog, and the other animal voices are good, too. Tim Curry was an amazing counterpart to Garfield, playing the ultra-posh aristocratic English cat, Prince. But again, the jokes are NOT multi-leveled. They are simple, aimed at 5 year-olds. If you take your kids, you'll like it too. If you go with adults, you'll have a lot of cognitive capacity left over whilst viewing it to accommodate virtually any daydreaming task.

I did not like the first 'Garfield'-film, and although this sequel is an improvement I didn't care much for this one as well. Too many talking animals and a story involving a mix-up, which is too simple to begin with, make a boring movie out of elements we have seen many times before.

The mix-up is between Garfield and Prince, a London cat who just inherited a whole castle. The inhabitant of that castle, Lord Dargis (Billy Connolly), thought he would have it all. Only after the cat is dead and buried the place will be his. He gets rid off Prince, but the loyal butler Smithee (Ian Abercrombie) finds him back, only it is Garfield instead of Prince. Now owner Jon (Breckin Meyer) finds Prince, thinking it is Garfield. He is in London for a subplot involving his love Liz (Jennifer Love Hewitt) who he wants to marry.

As in the first film it is Bill Murray as the voice of Garfield who can bring the occasional smile to your face. Again the dancing sequences, one repeating a famous mirror scene from the Marx Brothers, belong to the highlights. 'A Tale of Two Kitties' contains some more laughs than the first film, but should be seen as another failure. I am not sure whether a good film about this character can be made, but better than this seems quite possible.

It was FUN!

I had a good time watching the movie. I didn't get bored, I laughed more than a couple of times. I truly liked Garfield. I mean that cat has really good a sense of humor.

The plot was fine, the dialogs were brilliant. Garfield was fine. Even, Odie had his moment.

The animation could have been better but it really wasn't that bad. I can watch is again. Everything someone looks for in Garfield was there. So, I wasn't disappointed and I have no idea why people were.

If you ask me, watch it. Cause it is fun and that is enough.

1st watched 7/6/2006 - 5 out of 10(Dir-Tim Hill): OK family comedy with the obnoxious over-eating computer-animated cat "Garfield" playing a dual role, sort of. The real Garfield is accidentally switched with an uppity prince-like cat in England which brings many fish-out-of-the-water scenarios for both cats(called "Kitties" in the title). To myself as an older person familiar with the other mediums used for Garfield(aka. Sunday papers and television), the computer animation was a deterrent when you're used to the cartoon character as well as not having the original television voice(Carlton the Doorman on Rhoda) in the role of Garfield, who was "purrfect". But Bill Murray doesn't do a bad job and it's fun for the kids for the most part. Some of the best scenes include a song where the animals cook up a batch of Lasagne for Garfield and some adult-focused quips from Murray added to the fun. There were some early scenes that were supposed to be funny that fell flat for both the kids and adults in the audience. There were times in the theatre where there was complete silence which seemed a little odd when there was supposed to be laughter. This was not a good sign for the movie right off the bat. It did become better later but there seemed to be too many attempts to emulate other popular animal movies like "Babe" by adding many animals having talking parts as well as what I've already mentioned to make a unique experience that could have been had if more attempts were made to follow the original cartoon concept.