Marmaduke

Don't know why so many people have a downer on this.I took my 7yo and 3yo boys to this and they really liked it!

I thought it was OK, not great but OK easy to watch. Now is that not what a kids film should be? Too many people out there think they are experts, just relax man and watch the movie.

Instead of writing crap about every film, it's unfair as myself as a parent checked the reviews for this. I am pleased I ignored them as I have my suspicions about a lot of these reviewers. This is a long line now in poor reviews which turn out to be decent movies. End result the kids had a good time watching a nice gentle movie with some laughs-get over yourselves.

Marmaduke is the adaptation to movies of the cartoon of the same name. The story is about a suburban family moves to a new neighborhood with their large yet lovable Great Dane, who has a tendency to wreak havoc in his own oblivious way. Marmaduke is mainly intended for little kids, some adults may enjoy it others might feel light a living hell. The movie has some funny moments and others are kinda foolish. The CGI to make the animals talk are nothing out of this world but decent enough. The story is a little predictable. The cast of voices are the best thing with Owen Wilson as Marmaduke, Fergie as Jezebel, Kiefer Sutherland as Bosco and George Lopez as Carlos. We also have Lee Pace and Judy Greer as Phil and Debbie Winslow, Marmaduke's owners and William H. Macy as Pace's boss. In conclusion, Kids will love Marmaduke and for one strange reason I enjoy it. So if you have children and a very big patience, take them to see this movie. If not well its your choice.

Some guy was giving out tickets to a test screening of this abomination to mankind, and I decided "Eh, free film and I always liked Marmaduke". Well, I was wrong. This film is a physically painful experience. This film consists of the BAD jokes from Marley & Me. The difference is, Marley & Me was touching and funny and cute. This is horrible. No more words to fit this. HORRIBLE! The horrible scene that sticks out the most is the dancing dogs sequence that features a ton of dogs dancing around to music in a park. I just saw a preview for this film on TV, and the song "Tik Tok" was playing during it. Tik Tok, during a dog film commercial. The writing is horrible, the acting is horrible, the effects are horrible, the jokes are horrible, the music is horrible, EVERY SINGLE LAST THING IS HORRIBLE!

I did not apply a rating to this review as 1 is too good for this.

EDIT: Under pressure from somebody, I watched the film in theaters to see if anything was different. I was wrong... IT WAS EVEN WORSE!

So the first two reviewers who panned it never saw it. How open-minded of them. Some people are way too sophisticated for a movie like this and should just order a latte and go to an art house movie.

I saw it, it was fun. Kids and adults laughed throughout. At the end adult guys in the lobby were cracking jokes and repeating lines from the movie.

It has a strong theme of "don't put others into groups and turn your back on your friends" and "parents, pay attention to your kids. Work and career are not as important as family." Which maybe explains why some won't like it - maybe those themes hit a little too close to home.

This movie was a great diversion from all the problems going on today. Relax and enjoy it.

In short, the CGI talking dogs was done extremely well, even carrying on through nuances found in most dogs - head-tilts, twitches, etc. Typical past CGI attempts practically demanded that the subject remain still while the effects are applied. So, I have to give very high marks to the special effects. The Marmaduke character is very likable as are most of the ensemble here. The story is predictable but I had a fairly good time and even found the humor to be occasionally very funny from a dog-oriented viewpoint. I truly didn't expect much from this but ended up liking it quite a bit. Having said that I will say that I enjoyed it once and will probably never watch it again, but I believe kids 7 to 11 would enjoy it quite a bit.