Long-running 1950s comic-strip gets a big screen adaptation.
I passed the age for talking animal movies about 15 years ago, so I went into Marmaduke with some trepidation. Of course I’m not the intended audience for this so I shouldn’t be too harsh, but when you realise that parents have to sit through this tripe an alarm bell has to be rung.
Marmaduke is apparently a very successful comic strip, although I’d never heard of it before this film. It’s also the second family friendly dog movie Owen Wilson has done in the last couple of years (Marley & Me the first). Not sure why that is, but he’s not exactly stretching himself here. He voices the title character, a Great Dane who travels to California with his family when his owner Phil (Lee Pace, TV’s Pushing Daisies) gets a marketing job with an organic pet food company.
After this set-up, the movie follows a very predictable plot-line. It’s barely worth discussing as the only people watching the movie will not give a rat’s about plot mechanics. Give them a talking dog that makes farting noises on his owner’s bed and they’ll be happy. If you must know – think Mean Girls for dogs and you’re very close.
And while I might have liked it if I was 5 years old, these 5 year olds have to be accompanied by an adult. When you have Pixar hitting it out of the park with every movie they release, managing to appeal to young and old alike you have to call this sort of movie for what it is – lazy filmmaking. There is absolutely nothing in this movie for adults bar a couple of throwaway references to Almost Famous and magic mushrooms.
Even the CGI isn’t great – seeing lip-synched animals talk like humans is disconcerting – I’d far rather see them making normal animal gestures with a human voiceover. It was this disconnect between what I was hearing and what I was seeing that made it very hard for me to buy into the film. The CGI gets worse though, especially in the ridiculous dog surfing championship that Phil organises as an idea to placate his boss (William H. Macy in a throwaway role).
With all the voice talent on offer – the fantastic Emma Stone, George Lopez, Steve Coogan, Christopher Mintz-Plasse aka McLovin, Sam Elliot and more it’s a shame that director Tom Dey (Failure to Launch) couldn’t have created something with cross-generational appeal. The only people who are going to enjoy it aren’t capable of reading this review. I just feel sorry for the parents who turn up late for the Toy Story 3 screening and end up having to see this instead.
1 1/2 Stars
Andrew Cozens