Taken from the old newspaper comic strip, an entire movie has been created around “Marmaduke” – a teenage Great Dane. This was a tricky call from the start given that I’m not quite sure who the movie is aimed at – it appeared to me, looking at the audience that the people enjoying it the most were very, very small and they are certainly not going to be aware of the original character.
The humans enlisted to provide a story around the dogs did eventually manage to create a strong message about the importance of listening to your children and how family should always come first, but the acting wasn’t particularly good in my opinion. The final drama was quite exciting and sweet, but the entire film should have been funnier. I didn’t laugh much – too many lame jokes (the fart ones got the biggest laugh) and too many references to “Who Let The Dogs Out” and anyway, I generally don’t find Owen Wilson very funny so it didn’t help that he was the voice of Marmaduke.
The computer generated imagery was impressive, providing real animals with talking mouths and once again there were strong messages about friendship groups and loyalty that shone through.
All in all better than I thought – not really my thing, but I took some harsh critics – boys aged 10 – 12 and they enjoyed it. Others that would enjoy it? Small children (although there are a few scary bits) and dog lovers.
Tue, Aug 10, 2010
BLOG, REVIEWS