Released Date: 2 September 2004

Synopsis (Courtesy from 20th Century Fox) :

He's cynical, lazy and, literally, a fat cat. Now, Garfield, America's favorite feline, is about to become a major motion picture star.

Life couldn't be sweeter for Garfield. Parked on a comfortable lounge chair in front of the TV, feasting on his favourite dish - lasagna - he's the master of his universe. That is, until his owner, Jon, takes in a sweet but dimwitted pooch Odie, turning Garfield's perfect world upside down. Now, Garfield wants only one thing: Odie out of his home and life!

But when the hapless pup disappears, Garfield, maybe for the first time in his life, feels responsible. With an uncharacteristic amount of energy and courage, Garfield manages to pull himself away from the TV, and spring into action. He's on a mission to save Odie… and get back to his beloved lounge chair.

Review:

Almost everyone knew this big, fat, yellowish feline who had brought us catch phrases like "I would like mornings if they started later" and "I'd rather pig out than work out". With it's cartoon strip published in more than 2,600 newspapers and with a readership of 260 million around the globe, it makes one wonder what took Hollywood so long to bring Garfield alive on the big screen.

Producer John Davis, ("Doctor Dolittle" and "Daddy Day Care") and Garfield's creator Jim Davis, together with the screenwriting team of Joel Cohen and Alec Sokolow ("Toy Story," "Cheaper by the Dozen") had made everyone's favorite feline a movie star!

The movie started-off promisingly with some baby-photos of Garfield, which sure warms the heart of every audience. It seem that life has never been better for Garfield until a beautiful veterinarian Liz Wilson (JENNIFER LOVE HEWITT), gave his master, Jon (BRECKIN MEYER), a lovely pet dog, Odie. Garfield's perfect Universe was crashed when Jon seem to be showering more love to Odie since the latter was given by his love interest. For the first time, Garfield felt threatened and in the midst of much chaos, decided to drive Odie out of the house.

However, when the hapless hound disappears, Garfield does not felt victorious. Soon, he learnt that Odie was in the evil clutches of a local celebrity, Happy Chapman (STEPHEN TOBOLOWSKY), he felt charged with courage and responsibility that he pull himself away from his lazy and well-protected life to venture into the "dangerous" city to search-and-rescue Odie.

The storyline is entertaining enough to entice the audience throughout the short run-time of the movie. However, it is disappointing that even with the current technology advancement in film-making, Garfield's movement looks unnatural and most of the time, does not blend in with the surroundings. Fortunately, the Computer Generated Garfield is still loveable and adorable in his every expression. Together with the natural comic flair of Bill Murray, who sounded convincingly as the voice of Garfield. Expect many hilarious moments throughout the movie.

As the trailers of the Garfield's movie started to roll on major TV stations, one question burns everyone's mind: would this Garfield in the movie, which was so much different from the one in the comic strips, capable to charm it's fan from over the World?

Well, at least for now, it had charmed us!

Movie Rating: C+