Movie Review by Vivienne Messenger
Starring: Breckin Meyer, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Billy Connolly, Bill Murray
Director: Tim Hill
Entertaining as ever, GARFIELD: A TALE OF TWO KITTIES is a well made mix of live action, both human and animal, and superb animation in the form of Garfield who returns in this all action sequel in his usual nonchalant style. That is until, horror of horrors, Garfield deduces his owner Jon (Breckin Meyer) has gone crazy when he discovers Jon is about to propose to his veterinary girlfriend Liz (Jennifer Love Hewitt). Luck seems to be on his side when Liz unexpectedly leaves for London on business unaware of Jon’s intentions. Smugly satisfied that that dangerous idea of Jon’s is over with, Garfield’s aghast when Jon hurriedly packs, dumps him and Odie at the vet’s kennels and departs for the airport in pursuit of Liz. Not to be out manoeuvred, Garfield resourceful as ever manages to sneak inside one of Jon’s suitcases with Odie in tow and hey presto, next emerges in a London hotel room looking into the eyes of his flabbergasted owner cosying up to Liz on the bed!
Garfield, being Garfield, has this natural instinct for not staying out of trouble and soon enough finds the confines of a hotel room too boring. Escaping outside he is soon the victim of a crime and cat-napped on a London street which he shouldn’t have been out on in the first place. Transferred to a chauffer driven car complete with a tasty meal inside he is strangely being called Prince. So this tale of two kitties unfolds as he is driven to a huge manor where it dawns on Garfield that there’s another cat, who looks identical to him. He then discovers from the other animals on the estate that his life is in jeopardy as Lord Dargis (Billy Connolly), the next in line for the inheritance, has already got rid of his predecessor Prince who’s just inherited this fabulous country estate and Dargis will stop at nothing to realise his ambition and fulfil his dreams!
Prince meanwhile has used up one of his nine lives and emerges more or less unscathed from a London sewer and is rather cleverly (and conveniently) discovered wandering in the same street as Odie by a very relieved Jon who can’t understand why his cat is behaving so out of character.
But never fear, Garfield’s a cat used to getting his own way and has a few tricks up his paw… To find out how Garfield and Prince save the day you’ll have to watch the movie.
Co-written by Garfield creator Jim Davis and directed by Tim Hill (THE SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS MOVIE), GARFIELD: A TALE OF TWO KITTIES is a wonderful and very watchable treat for children of all ages. Bill Murray once again does an excellent job voicing Garfield and there’s a welcome continuity with the return of the two leads, Breckin Meyer and Jennifer Love Hewitt. The CGI is masterfully integrated into the body of the movie and interestingly this is one of the riveting special features that is available on the DVD. ‘The Nine Lives of Garfield’ details how the Visual Effects team superimpose Garfield through a nine-stage process ‘from the script to the final shot that makes it into the movie’. Another fascinating special feature is ‘Drawing with Jim Davis’ and watching him skilfully sketch Garfield, Odie and Pooky explaining how he does it. But the children will also enjoy the ‘Garfield Maze Game’ and will keep them occupied for quite some time.
Overall there’s a lot here on this DVD to engage your children’s attentions in a very enjoyable and amusing way.
