The Garfield Movie is coming back to the table to take the #1 spot at the box office this weekend. With no new massive releases this week, theaters are looking at a two film race between Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga and The Garfield Movie. Sony’s little family movie starring Chris Pratt is poised to claw its way to the top of the ladder over another solid George Miller outing in the Mad Max universe. A lot has been made of Furiosa‘s box office performance. But, a quick scan of everything else in the marketplace shows that the film is far from alone when it comes to theatrical offerings. After all, we’re just a few weeks removed from everyone being worried about The Fall Guy.
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There will be a lot of time to talk about what was going on with Furiosa at another time. But, for now, we dig into The Garfield Movie. Another $3.7 million on the stack will likely make the higher-ups at the studio smile. If Garfield can notch the projected $13 million in a second weekend at the buffet line, they have to feel pretty good about the movie overall. Keep in mind that the famous orange cat has already amassed $40 million at the North American box office. We might really see Garfield earn back its production budget in America alone by the time it bows out of theaters. So, the slow-ish summer rolls on at the movies, but that’s what the season is about over the last few years.
How Good Is The Garfield Movie?
So, with our favorite orange cat leading the box office, the question remains: Is The Garfield Movie any good? ComicBook’s Charlie Ridgely reviewed the feature. And, for him, it’s largely forgettable. Yes, there’s the resident slapstick that animated kids movies demand. But, it left our critic wanting a little bit more. The realm of children’s/family animation has leveled up In big ways over the last few years with things like Spider-Verse, The Bad Guys, Puss In Boots, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, or any Pixar release in recent memory. But, for a fun time with the little ones, The Garfield Movie will suffice.
“One could argue that The Garfield Movie is “for kids” so all that matters is little ones laugh and have a good time, but kids deserve better than that. This point is also moot because The Garfield Movie is largely void of the fun and humor kids crave,” Ridgely argues. “There are some zany bits designed to elicit laughs, clearly inspired by Wil E. Coyote and the other Looney Tunes. They’re okay, at times, and will get a few chuckles, but they’re out of place amidst a movie that isn’t aiming for the slapstick nature of that material. The Garfield Movie never knows what it wants to be and makes those scenes that could be entertaining feel more frustrating.”
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