Critics Scoreboard
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Average Critic Score:
26
(32 sources)
26
(32 sources)
-
75
Chicago Sun-Times
The filmmakers obviously understand and love Garfield, and their movie lacks that sense of smarmy slumming you sometimes get when Hollywood brings comic strips to the screen. Read Full Review » -
70
Film Threat
Overall, Garfield's first movie might not be as amusing as the cartoon but it was still a lot of fun to watch. Read Full Review » -
58
Portland Oregonian
In short, it's an almost flawlessly innocuous entertainment for kids. Read Full Review » -
50
USA Today
Not even Bill Murray could save Garfield. Perhaps the comedian -- so pitch-perfect as the sardonic actor in "Lost in Translation" -- got too deeply into character. Read Full Review » -
50
Chicago Tribune
The cinematic Garfield: The Movie feels like an 82-minute commercial for Garfield, The Brand rather than cinematic dumb fun. Read Full Review » -
50
Dallas Observer
If it weren't for Murray, there'd be nothing at all to the film, which forgets all conventional notions of story or characterization. Read Full Review » -
50
Philadelphia Inquirer
However terrific Murray is, if Antonio Banderas, mellifluous voice of Puss-in-Boots in "Shrek 2," went paw to claw with Garfield, Puss would definitely triumph. Read Full Review » -
42
-
40
LA Weekly
Under Peter Hewitt's phoned-in direction, Garfield chugs along like the slow train to Chattanooga, with only Jennifer Love Hewitt, as the local vet, twittering pertly in a desperate effort to raise Jon's feeble pulse. Read Full Review » -
40
The Hollywood Reporter
Unlike that widely appealing picture with the giant green ogre, this one's strictly for the kiddies. Read Full Review » -
40
TV Guide
The CGI is well-done, but Garfield's presence among the otherwise live cast is a constant distraction. Read Full Review » -
40
-
38
Baltimore Sun
Garfield the comic strip stopped being funny about 10 years ago. Garfield the Movie makes it to about the 10-minute mark before tedium sets in. Read Full Review » -
38
-
30
Washington Post
There's nothing to recommend about this film except its sheer innocuousness. And Bill Murray's off-screen voicing as Garfield adds no "Robin Williams" element to the movie. Read Full Review » -
30
Variety
Only very small children still easily impressed by interaction of human actors and CGI quadrupeds will be amused by Garfield. Read Full Review » -
30
-
30
Village Voice
No one can accuse Garfield: The Movie of infidelity to its source: It faithfully conveys the banality of Jim Davis's cartoon. Read Full Review » -
30
The Onion (A.V. Club)
The popularity of Davis' strip represents the ultimate triumph of mediocrity, but even the cartoonist's competent hackwork deserves better than this. Read Full Review » -
30
-
25
Boston Globe
A black-dressing young intellectual of my acquaintance recently ascribed a "lazy generosity" to Garfield and his daily antics. If so, the movie gets the laziness but misses the generosity. Read Full Review » -
25
New York Daily News
Thanks to that dog-torture element, Garfield may be too upsetting for younger kids. Meanwhile, older kids (let alone parents) will want to put this movie behind them like yesterday's hairball. Read Full Review » -
25
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
This isn't a movie, it's a marketing ploy. Would you like a plush Garfield toy with that popcorn? Read Full Review » -
25
ReelViews
This a neutered Garfield, one part tomcat and three parts pussy, recognizable only by his orange coat and love of lasagna. This feline's got a serious case of mange. Read Full Review » -
25
San Francisco Chronicle
Nothing really works here, and nobody seems to have put in a huge amount of effort, except maybe the marketing department -- there are many product placements. Read Full Review » -
25
Miami Herald
Now here's the reason America won't love Garfield: The Movie: Garfield's gone from the listless feline we all know and love to a fast-stepping, break-dancing cat about town. What's worse, the other characters are even farther from their roots. Read Full Review » -
25
Christian Science Monitor
The blend of live action and animation is competently done, but the subtly mean-spirited screenplay has more sour meows than hearty laughs. Read Full Review » -
20
The New York Times
That Garfield speaks in the supercilious, world-weary drawl of Bill Murray is some small consolation, as are a few of the animal tricks. Read Full Review » -
20
Los Angeles Times
Bill Murray completists, tots under 5 and their unfortunate chaperons are the only ones who need experience the soulless excuse for an entertainment called Garfield: The Movie. Read Full Review » -
10
Film Threat
The best way for Fox to atone for releasing this shameless pile of c--- is in the manner befitting all unwanted kittens: put all the negatives in a bag filled with rocks and sink them in a very deep river. Sprinkle some garlic over the water for good measure, to make sure the movie never rises to torment the living again. Read Full Review » -
0
-
0
Austin Chronicle
You'd have to be a real a..hole to hate this movie, loaded as it is with adorable animals. Sadly the task falls to me. Read Full Review »
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